Signs You're Getting Old

It must be a sign that I'm getting old when I actually prefer Mondays to Fridays. Used to be, Friday was my favorite day. Usually the weekend would start on Thursday with Happy Hour and then on Friday it was out directly after work until all hours, Mondays were to be dreaded. Nowadays, by Friday I'm tired and running down on energy, yet Mondays are fun! I'm well-rested, re-invigorated with energy and enthusiasm for the work at hand. I always seem to get a lot done on a Monday and the day just flies by. Preferring a Monday to Friday ... what's up with that?

The Puppy is getting so big!

Sleep

It seems like sleep or rather, the lack of, has been in the media quite a bit recently. The Today show has been doing a segment about it this week and the subject keeps popping up from various other sources too. “They” are saying now that sleep is not just as important, but that it’s even more important, to one’s health and well-being than diet and exercise. More important to your health than diet and exercise. I don’t think I know even one person who consistently gets 8 hours a night. I know that I don’t (and for no good reason either). I heard a blurb somewhere, I think it might have been on Oprah or something, that said, “you can not be the person you were meant to be unless you’re getting eight hours of sleep a night”. I kind of like that, it sums it up neatly for me. And it kind of makes sense, if you think about it. You’re not as sharp or as intelligent. You don’t have as much energy or passion or enthusiasm or whatever as you would have if your body was getting enough sleep. Anyway, I don’t have children, I have a ridiculously short commute, and I am generally a pretty good sleeper. Or I am, once I finally turn the lights out. I have no excuse not to be getting my 8 hours. No excuse except that I just stay up too late at night. I watch TV, I am on the computer (I mean, at least two nights this week I was still logged into work at 11 PM – I just got a bug in my brain about something I’m working on). I finally go upstairs and get into bed and that’s when the reading starts. Half the time, I’m turning the lights off at 1, 1:30 AM. And getting up around 6:30 AM. Not acceptable. Last night I think I managed to turn the lights off at 11, and it’s amazing how much better I feel. No wonder all I want to do on a weekend is laze around and relax. I’m exhausted from lack of sleep. This is probably the most easily fixed thing in my life, so I really need to be conscious of it and really work on getting that consistent sleep. Like, starting NOW.

These are the kind of dogs I have:

Most dogs, you let them out the back door, they're like "woohoo! outside" run, run, run, sniff, sniff, sniff, pee, pee, pee. Mine? I let them out the back door and they just sit there, peering back at me through the glass.

Most dogs, you come into the house, they're right there at the door to greet you (if they're not barking on the other side of the door as you approach). Mine? I come in, no dog, walk through the downstairs, mill around in the hallway sorting the mail? No dog. Finally walk upstairs and there is Lola, all curled up on the bed and looking up at me like, "what?". Sheesh.

Most dogs, you pick up the leash and they get all excited, "woohoo! goin' for a walk! goin' for a walk!" Fitz, I pick up his harness & leash and he cowers and runs in the other direction (even if I'm bribing him with food).

These are my freaks, they are not normal.

How Many Times ...

Do you have to tell a person, "no sugar" for them to figure out that you don't want ANY sugar in your damn coffee???? Once or twice a week I treat myself to a Dunkin Donuts "Turbo" coffee, which comes with a shot of espresso and is delish and also gives that sometimes much-needed extra morning kick, but when they don't get the order right, it completely spoils the experience. This is the second time this has happened with my coffee with them. Very disappointing.

Wake Up, It's Monday Morning

Nothing like almost waltzing into the Men's Room to realize that I am not really fully awake this Monday morning. Sheesh!

Home Improvement Continues

One of the things that I've really wanted to do in my new house is have some bookshelves and an incorporated TV-stand/entertainment unit built into my living room. A couple of weeks ago I interviewed a few carpenters and last week finally decided which one to hire. Today I signed the proposal and gave him my deposit and the work is meant to start at the end of this week. It's pretty exciting to see something I've envisioned actually start to happen. In the past I've never really had the resources to have anything significant done in my home, it's almost a weird feeling to realize that I actually can do this kind of thing now. I'll be very happy to finally get these shelves installed. I can unpack all of my books, hang some pictures and finally have a completely finished room! Well, it won't be completely finished until I replace the carpeting and get some window treatments, but it'll be close enough to satisfy me.

Rant of the Day

When you sit in a cubicle, in an open-air, cube-farm style office, using a speaker phone is really not the most considerate choice. But then, it is all about you after all, isn't it? Sheesh.

Lots o' Snow

sick, sick, sick

So, as I posted previously, on Thursday I started getting that sick-y feeling like I was coming down with something. By Thursday night I had a fever and chills and by Friday I had that strange chest rattle-wheezing thing I also posted about. I felt pretty miserable for most of the weekend and then Sunday afternoon I felt worse, with my fever spiking over 102*. I managed to speak to a nurse over the phone through an after-hours nurse service through a local hospital who advised me that I should probably go to the emergency room, just to be safe. So I drove myself to the closest one, up the road in Manchester. This was the ultimate example of how living here differs from NYC. No one in the waiting room, they took me right away. I think I was having a chest x-ray within 20 minutes of having checked in and I was out within an hour or so. Anyway, the bottom line is, I have bronchitis. The doctor says that I *can't* go to work for three days and I'm on antibiotics. Ugh, I am never this sick! It's so frustrating! The doctor also lectured me for not having a local doctor yet. Sheesh. So, I'm sick, sick, sick and will most likely be whining and complaining about it for a couple of days.

This is so weird

I don't know if it's because I'm sick, but I seem to have developed the strangest affliction. I am making this weird noise, deep in my lungs, with each breath I take. At least, I hope it's my lungs and not my heart -- ACK! Anyway, with each breath I make this wheezy-whistle-y noise, kind of a cross between a stomach growl and that noise your nose can make when it needs a good blowing. This noise actually kept me up for half the night. Even the dog could hear it! She sat there on my bed looking at me completely perplexed. I don't usually freak out over health stuff, but this is rather strange, so I'm a little concerned. Maybe I'll call my cousin (he's a local Dr.)

UGH

I have tomorrow off (and long weekends planned for the next couple of weeks in order to use up vacation time from 2006) and now I feel like I'm getting sick! It's that scratchy-frog-in-the-throat-sneezy-coughy-general-funky feeling. It just figures. And I really can't lay around nursing myself either as Painter Guy will be there all day. I plan to use the day to do errands, get a facial and get some of the stuff done that I always say I'm going to do on weekends and hardly ever end up doing (browse a furniture store, shop for linens, get a facial, go to Trader Joe's and/Costco, go get more paint chips, etc.) Damn.

New Shoes

I have the worst time finding shoes that are comfortable on my feet. Where most women swoon over shoe shopping and love to have new shoes, I personally hate it. And when I do find shoes that are relatively comfortable in the store, after wearing them for a couple of hours, they inevitably have me in serious pain. The exception, of course being running shoes, Merrell mocs and Teva (or similar) sandals. That is until this past Summer when I discovered Rockports. Now, Rockport shoes are not the most fashionable shoes out there, they are a little doofy, but they are pretty comfortable and look more professional in the office than my Merrells, so my Rockport driving mocs are what I usually wear to work. But then, a few days ago I was browsing the zappos.com site and happened upon these shoes:




So I bought them. They're not fashionable in the pointy-toe, sling-back, kitten, spiky heel sense, but I kind of like them anyway. I feel so much more stylish in my red suede with croc trim shoes!

I just thought I'd share ...

Reason #5,654 why I love living in New Hampshire

The smell of woodsmoke every time I step outside of my house (because pretty much everyone has a fire going in their fireplace).

Wacky Pugs

Little Fitzie is trying to teaching himself how to lift his leg. I've been cracking up watching him, it's really very entertaining. About once every three or so times he goes out to pee he'll give it a shot and lift his leg so high that he'll end up standing there all wobbly and falling over. It makes me laugh until I cry. So freaking funny.

Good News on the Painting Front

Turns out the Painting Guy will have time to do the kitchen right after he finishes the living room after all. I am so happy! Now at least my downstairs will mostly be done (except the dreaded hallway and the powder room). Got to find someone for those bookshelves though ...

Oh, and

I have to say, I just LOVE that it snows here! It is snowing here as I write this. I'm like a kid that way, I still get excited when it snows.

Yes, It's been a very long time

I just don't know why I'm having such a hard time posting on a regular basis. I think of something to write almost every day, but by the time I have a chance to log in and post, I've either forgotten what I was going to write about, or I just don't feel like it.

Anyway, there really hasn't been anything too interesting to write about, I've just been working and trying to settle into my house and cleaning up dog pee & poop (Fitz knows that he he's not supposed to "go" in the house, he just doesn't know enough to ask yet).

I've finally started the painting process at the house. Painter Guy started today with my living room. I'm painting it Benjamin Moore "Shaker Beige" (HC - 45) with a crisp, white trim. It's a nice neutral sandy beige, a bit warmer and richer than your typical beige. Anyway, I hope I like it once it's done. The kitchen I think I'm going to go with the color I painted my kitchen in Queens last Fall "Straw" (Ben Moore, of course). The rest of it, I'm not sure about. I think I want the hallways just a little darker beige or taupe color to compliment the living room and for the bedrooms (at least the guest rooms) I am thinking of "Philadelphia Cream". At the moment I only have a commitment from Painter Guy for the living room, he's got other jobs to work around -- I guess it's probably a good thing he's so popular, hopefully that means he's good! Anyway, I'm not sure when the other rooms are going to get done, but I feel great that the process has started at least. I still have to find someone to build me some bookcases in the living room though, I haven't had any luck there. I will be so glad when the bulk of this work is done, I think I'll continue to feel a little disoriented until it is.

My one-year anniversary at New Company came and went last week. It's sort of a bizarre feeling, I feel both like I just got here a week ago and that I've been here for forever (how is it possible to feel both simultaneously?) I worked at Old Company for almost seventeen years, so long that it was almost a part of me. Moving to New Hampshire and working for New Company has been such a mental adjustment for me that it really has felt very new for the full twelve months. I'm feeling a little more comfortable now though and hopefully I can relax a bit and start spreading my wings at work some. I spent so much of the past year in total fear that I was going to be fired at any moment, I really need to take a deep breath and get myself out of adjustment mode and to start to assertively move forward.

2006 was a big year of adjustment for me, I really feel like it was mostly all transitional. Now I need to start focusing on the things that have fallen to the wayside while I settled into the new job and the new area. Most notably fitness stuff. I am right now so out shape and so out of balance that I feel overwhelmed with the task of changing that, but I'm never happier than when some semblance of a fitness program is a part of my life.

So, these are the things that I've decided I need to focus on for 2007:

1) Work: Strive to learn, grow, take on more stuff. Full-fill my potential.
2) Physical: Make fitness a part of my life (once I'm working out regularly, try to make running a part of my life again).
3) Home: Get the rooms painted and figure out and schedule other work needed to improve my home.
4) Social: Develop a social network here in New Hampshire.
5) Money: Get out of debt. Wait, I did that last year! heh. (well, I do still have a mortgage). Okay, build a solid emergency fund (well, I do have a savings, but I'll feel more comfortable with more, plus I need some of it for the home improvements). Start investing (in addition to retirement accounts).
6) Dogs: get Fitzie house-trained and somewhat obedient (yeah, right).
7) Recreation: Plan a real vacation (one where I actually go away somewhere and stay in a hotel or something) this year. I think I kind of need one.

That should be enough to worry about for now, sheesh.

My Little Fitzie ...

... went to the vet tonight for his final puppy shots where he weighed in at a whopping 9.5 lbs! He was barely 3 lbs when I got him! He's growing so fast.

How Not To Start Off The New Year

* Have crappy sleep the night before the first business day of the year.
* Wake up late and run around the house like a maniac.
* Leave dirty dishes in the sink and an unmade bed (hate coming home to a mess).
* Leave for work late and realize you need gas.
* Stop and get gas, pull too far away from pump and stand down wind of nozzle on a windy day.
* Pull spraying, drippy nozzle out of car and spew gas all over the legs of your pants.
* Continue to spew gas all over yourself as you try to maneuver over to the upwind side of the nozzle.
* Continue on to work (you're running late after all) with car windows rolled down so as not to pass out from the fumes in transit.
* Sit in your open cubicle and stink up the joint.

I hope this is not an indication of how the year is going to go ...