Monkeys Monkeys Everywhere!

In Florida. Yesterday, Jason and I went to the Monkey Jungle. FYI, squirrel monkeys are crazy.



More later.

Unmotivated and It Feels So Good

Jason and I are going on vacation on Saturday and I cannot focus today. Tomorrow I'm going to be doing real work and will be more on the ball. Today I'm sort of taking notes and searching documents for my memo, but I'm also reading emails and message boards and making tentative plans in my head and imagining myself laying on the beach, which is MUCH more fun.

I was hoping to have the memo done before I left, but that's really not going to happen. I finished what I thought was going to be the main portion, but as I've started researching the other aspects of the case, I've realized that the rest of it is probably going to be just as substantial. There's no deadline, but to show the attorneys that I haven't been completely wasting my days away, I'm going to send them my 18-page draft with an email explaining what all I still plan to do.

Have I told you about this memo? Most of the other people doing memos have very discreet topics, but my topic covers the entire accounting policy department in the company. Which is basically everything the case is about. We have several research documents we've been using for reference, and I kind of just want my memo to say See _________ Reports. The end.

But, no, they actually want me to write. I have a feeling it will probably wind up being at least 40 pages, whereas everyone else's have ranged from 12-23 pages.

So anyway, back to the beach.

We're heading South to stay with some of my family for a week and wile away our days on the beach and do touristy stuff in the sun. I'm so excited and not feeling the whole work thing today.

Plus, has anyone else noticed how interminable March can be? I'm ok with February - it's supposed to still be cold. But March does this taunting thing where it's 65 one day and three days later there's a nor'easter and a foot of snow on the ground. How is that fair? I have been consistently underdressed for the past few days, stubbornly willing the temperature to be higher and the wind to blow less.

On the plus side, I'm treating myself to a manicure and pedicure this afternoon so I can wear my sandals proudly.

And on the doubleplus side, I lost 4.1 inches this week. How is that even possible?

My Arm...

...is working again. Hurrah!

I swam 80 laps last night doped up on a couple of Advil.* While my elbow was doing a little bit of a popping thing (which it's done before. Probably a precursor to its recent shenanigans), there was no pain.

I bought this nifty ice pack yesterday that just fits the contours of my elbow region and straps on with velcro. After my swim and shower, my arm was a little stiff so I iced it. I feel like an athlete with my sports injury. Hardcore. That's me.

Taking a break from the pool tonight, but I'l be back tomorrow. Awwww, yeah.


*Based on my personal prior consumption of Advil, I'm going to wager that if there was any major pain, 400 mg of Advil would not have cut it that much.

Happy Spring!

And the cardinal in the tree on the corner who was singing to me as I walked to work says, "Happy Spring!" too.

Soundtrack

Have you ever wondered if your life was a movie what the soundtrack would be like?

This is officially my new favorite game. Some of the songs are eerily appropriate, while Bodyrock by Moby for a funeral - probably not so much. Although I have always liked the idea of the New Orleans funeral with the jazz band playing some fun music, 'cause, you know, let's celebrate the person, and really funerals can be kind of fun as you get to see family you haven't seen in ages. Maybe Moby is the modern equivalent of that.

Or, if you want to be macabre: "We rock the body, rock the body."

I think it's safe to say that I like the Pixies.

Here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

Opening credits: Allison - Pixies (that gets my soundtrack off to a rockin' start)

Waking up: True Faith - New Order (meh)

First Day at School: Material Girl - Madonna (hee hee)

Falling in love: The Look - Roxette (And I go "La la la la la" She's got the look!)

Fight Song: Have You Got It In You - Imogen Heap

Breaking Up: Heart of Stone - Erasure (wow, it's like they know my ex)

Prom: Happy Jack - The Who

Life's OK: Daylight Robbery - Imogen Heap

Mental Breakdown: Overkill - Colin Hay (so true)

Driving: River Euphrates - Pixies (when I first learned to drive, the Pixies were in constant rotation)

Inner Smile: Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (totally)

Flashback: Just A Little While - Janet Jackson (apparently it's a dirty flashback...)

Getting Back Together: Fighting for My Love - Nil Lara (I swear I am not making this up)

Wedding: Blue Orchid - The White Stripes

Birth of a Child: Gigantic - Pixies (... hahahahahaha)

Final Battle: Sky Fits Heaven - Madonna (I think my final battle would be more of an inner, personal struggle: Traveling down this road, watching the signs as I go. Think I'll follow the sun. Isn't everyone just traveling down their own road, watching the signs as they go? Think I'll follow my heart. It's a very good place to start)

Death Scene: The Navajo Knows - Pixies

Funeral : Bodyrock - Moby

Everyone should play this game right now.

We Can Talk About the Weather, Making Plans Together

So, like, there's a blizzard going on outside. And on the one hand I think it's perfectly fair since we haven't really had much of a winter at all and overall I like snow and I can be a trooper.

On the other hand, I'm a little bit in shock since it was 60 just a couple of days ago. I just went out to get lunch, fighting the wind and blowing snow the whole way, and I can attest to the fact that I am not the only shell-shocked Bostonian. I saw many other people, woefully underdressed, walking around with expressions of, "What the...?" I guess they didn't want to believe the weather people either.*

And way to mess up my Friday night plans, weather!


*Well, and who can blame them. The weather people have been really, REALLY wrong all winter long.

So Proud of Myself

I know it's dark, but I think you can plainly see that I am the Queen of the Parallel Parkers.

Bow down to your Queen.

Can You Figure Out What's Wrong With My Arm?

I'm double posting on this site and my weight loss blog because I'm hoping maybe someone will have an idea as to what is going on with my arm. Last Wednesday I went swimming, all primed to do my 90 laps, and about 3 laps in, my left arm started really hurting in the muscle right above my elbow. At first it was a stabbing pain starting when my stroke reached my hip and I pulled my arm out of the water to finish the stroke. I had to stop after the 4th lap because it went from a stabbing pain to feeling like the entire muscle was knotted up. I had been swimming Monday and Tuesday nights with no issues. On Wednesday, it only hurt as I was completing my stroke.

One of my roommates diagnosed a knot in my muscle and she massaged my arm a little bit to try to work it out. Thursday, my arm was a little sore from the workout the night before, but I had no pain for the rest of the weekend.

Last night I went to the pool again. A few laps in, I could feel the muscle starting to hurt again, but I kept going. Eventually, I think the endorphins took over because it seemed to get better, but I don't think it actually did because after my workout, the muscle hurt when I tried to lift something in the locker room. I did 90 laps last night (64 swimming, 26 kicking) and my arm is still sore today. I put some Tiger Balm on last night after my workout, and that seemed to help a bit. I was going to go swimming tonight, but now I'm thinking I should just walk home from work for exercise.

I've been doing research online this morning, and I can't figure out what's wrong. There are two distinct arm injuries common to swimmers, and I don't seem to have either of them. Swimmers Shoulder is caused by overuse and poor technique, as well as by breathing on one side exclusively. The pain is in the shoulder and radiates to the clavicle. While I do breathe exclusively on my right side (I need to work on that), the pain isn't in my shoulder. I've also been told I have good technique so I don't think my technique is straining my arm too much.

The other possibility is Swimmers Elbow (like tennis elbow), which is caused by overuse. However, from what I can tell on the sites, the pain of that is mostly in the lower arm and affects the ability to grip things. That isn't my problem either.

The pain I'm having is in the exterior muscle of the upper arm, down near my elbow. It only hurts when I swim, although it's sore today because of my workout last night.

I've never had this issue before and I've been swimming for years. When I started back several weeks ago, I progressed slowly through 40, then 50, 60, 70, 80 and now 90 laps per workout session. I used to swim 120 laps at times and was hoping to get back up to that. This is just really frustrating.

Mmmmm...

It's kind of like the people at Cadbury woke up one morning and asked each other, "How can we make Kelly's Easter the best EVER?"

I'm having a hard time finding anyone else who loves the Cadbury mini eggs as much as I do. They were always a staple in my Easter basket. I don't know what kind of sad and deprived childhoods you all had.

The fact that they're now in dark chocolate makes this A Very Special Easter.

Weight

So I have a whole blog dedicated to this weight loss thing, but I'm really excited about my results as of last night so I thought I would share. In the past 5 weeks I've lost 5.2 pounds, BUT the really magic number is the inches I've lost: 5.8. Almost 6 inches in 5 weeks! Actually the first couple of weeks are usually pretty slow, but just this last week I've lost 2.5 inches. Wow.

Could It Be...?

I saw a robin this morning. A plump, still ready for winter weather robin, but a robin nonetheless.

Spring is coming.

Can't Talk, Comin' Down

I've never actually been high, but I'm going to wager that the feeling I had yesterday afternoon was kind of close.

My friend C and I are doing a Detox Diet right now. It's basically 7 days of fruits, vegetables and protein, 1 day of "fasting" (which in this world means alternating every hour between 8 oz of water and 8 oz of a cranberry drink mixture), and 3 days of fruits, vegetables and protein. We're on Day 3 today.

My feelings thus far can be summed up in one word: Hungry. I never really thought about how much I use carbs and dairy as filler. Particularly dairy. A lot of times if I'm hungry, but don't want to have something carbohydratey, I'll drink a glass of milk or have a little bowl of cottage cheese. I figure it's not fatty and gives me some calcium too. But there's no dairy allowed on this detox.

Yesterday, C and I were whining to each other about how hungry we were. She wondered if the smoothie place around the corner would fit into the plan. After looking at the menu, we determined it wouldn't, BUT a little internet research informed us that a smoothie place I liked in DC is actually here too. Hooray!

Incidentally, when is Jamba Juice going to get its act together re: the East Coast?

So in the middle of the afternoon, feeling not quite full from our mutual lunch salads, we went to the smoothie place. We both ordered a pomegranate/strawberry smoothie in large please, and with the first sip decided that maybe it was worth $6 a day to enjoy such bliss for the remainder of our detox.

Our fatal flaw was in not inquiring whether the juice they used was 100% juice. I don't think it was.

About a half hour after I finished my smoothie I was seriously buzzing. BUZZING! I could hardly sit still. I was like, Yay! Fruit! This is awesome! I am going to ROCK the pool tonight! Yay!

A half hour after the high I crashed. Hard. My head felt a little detached from the rest of my body, not to mention the world around me. When I left work an hour later I was feeling a little better and made it to the pool, but I was dragging.

My conclusion: Just say no.

My Name is Kelly, and I Am an Introvert

A friend and I were talking about introversion and extr0version last night prompted by an interesting article she read called Caring For Your Introvert.* She told me on the Myers Briggs test she rated something like 89% introvert. My numbers weren't quite that high, somewhere in the 70's I think, but it has always been my natural inclination to be more withdrawn. I have always tested as an INFJ no matter how much time passes between tests.

It's not an introverted world however, as I know firsthand and as the article emphasizes. I've worked for many years to be more comfortable with social situations and small talk, but it's still kind of a struggle. When I'm interacting socially, sometimes it's a conscious decision to not sit there in silence and just take everything in. "Many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors" is a line from the article that rings true with me.

Don't get me wrong, I do like to socialize. I seek out friends and plan dinners or small gatherings. I like interacting with others and feel bored and sad if I feel like I have a non-existent social life. However, I do need alone time and I need time to recharge. And, frankly, I feel overwhelmed at large parties where people are squashed together in rooms, talking loudly, often (at least it seems to me) about nothing in particular. In those situations I will do one of two things: 1)Find someone who I know fairly well and end up talking to that one person the whole night.** Or, 2)Leave. I won't necessarily leave the party, but I may go outside for a moment to get my bearings. Or shut myself in a bedroom if I know the party-givers really well. After 10 minutes or so, I'm usually ready to weave my way through the crowd again. The only way I can explain it is I have to decompress from sensory overload.

I had jaw surgery in high school and my mouth was wired shut for 4 1/2 weeks. It was infuriating to not be able to express myself at times, but also very comfortable for me to sit back and just observe.

I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of bloggers, particularly those who are very gregarious online, are introverts. I know I have always felt much more comfortable and confident in my communications by writing versus talking. Sometimes when I talk, I find myself pausing and searching for the right words in a way that may make me sound like an awkward speaker. When I write, I can sit for a few seconds and come up with the right word. I don't really have the capacity of verbalizing my thought process, but if given a moment to analyze the situation inside my own head, I can figure out a solution to a problem. The thing is, I sometimes feel like the extrovert doesn't appreciate the wait and may dismiss me as not having any ideas at all.


* Some of the statements in the article are a little extreme. The only time I would really snarl at an extrovert is if they're trying to be all chatty first thing in the morning. My grandma and I were both relieved when I was about 15 and we discovered that neither of is likes to talk to anyone for about a half hour to an hour after we wake up. So she would sit in the kitchen quietly eating her cereal and reading her paper, while I would walk by her and maybe say good morning, but then quickly take my own breakfast into the family room. And neither of us worried that the other was mad or offended or anything.

**Actually, come to think of it, those people were probably introverts too as they seemed perfectly happy to also sit in one place and talk with me the whole evening.

Listening to the Internet Radio

Why do I like that Nickelback guy's voice so much? I don't know, but I do.

V Day

Let me just say that in my liberal-minded, feminist heart I recognize that Valentine's Day is a conspiracy between Hallmark, FTD and Russell Stovers, and when I'm single I hate it with a passion that knows no bounds, but the girly part of me who has a boyfriend right now thinks, "Yay! Love!" Last week for only the second time ever I was dating someone on Valentine's Day* and had been promised some sort of celebration of the day. V Day had to be postponed because of the Nor'easter, but, meh, I was promised dinner and I knew I would get to cash in eventually.

Then, totally unrelated to the storm, our plumbing backed up. I actually wanted to give our landlady a hug, she looked so distressed when she told us that we would need to go somewhere else for a few days since the plumber was talking about possibly digging up the street to get to the corroded 103-year old clay pipe. She offered to put us up somewhere, but we knew we could all find places to stay, so instead it looks like we'll get a little off of next month's rent.

So I spent the weekend down in Providence with Jason. He came up for a choir practice on Thursday and I just rode back down with him, which probably worked out better in the end since my car is still frozen in an ice block and it would have taken many hours and probably lots of boiling water to free it to drive down to Providence on Friday or Saturday.

V Day started on Thursday when Jason picked me up and had pretty yellow with red/orange edges roses and a heart-shaped box of candy. He also took me out for a fancy Italian dinner** on Saturday and gave me a brown Brown hoodie that is very cute, and also useful since I am always freezing at his place. I totally scored.

In return I gave him a little coupon good for cash toward Irish bagpipes, which he wants to buy. I figured I could help that process along and further his goal of creating a rockin' Irish band.*** I also tackled the mountain of laundry in his room sort of as a V Day/thanks for rescuing me when my plumbing died present. He probably has about 357 T-shirts and at least 200 of them were in the hamper.

So, in conclusion, Yay! Love!


* Jason and I were dating last V Day, but we were both super poor and agreed we just wouldn't do anything.
** Pumpkin-stuffed pasta! Yum!
***Which he invites everyone he meets who plays an instrument to join. It's going to be the biggest Irish band in the world.

I Live In An Ice Cube

So, you know, I can deal with snow. Blizzard of 2005, I was all over that. Going for walks in the blowing snowstorm, relishing my cozy apartment while my roommates and I watched the snow fall, digging out my car.

However, yesterday's Nor'easter was an evil concoction of sleet, freezing rain and snow that, since it got down to about 10 degrees last night, has resulted in a world encased in ice. Usually when I step into a snow bank at the side of the road, it gives and I sink in up to my knee and then I take the next step, sink in up to my knee, and so on. This morning those snow banks proved to be solid chunks of ice, with a light dusting of snow on top just to make it interesting.

I am proud to say that despite ice skating about a quarter of my way into work, I did not fall down. That's really quite an accomplishment for me.

And I would like to say to the taxi driver who couldn't seem to stay on his side of the road despite a widely plowed path leaving plenty of room for a car and a woman trying to avoid the ice slick of a sidewalk, there is a reason I hate cabbies.

Music Commentary

Point 1, Timbaland must have some magical power in his voice that makes me like the songs that say "feat. Timbaland." "SexyBack" and "Promiscuous" come immediately to mind, and the only Pussycat Dolls song I can stomach ("Wait A Minute") feat.s Timbaland.

Point 2, does anyone else think the lyrics to "Smack That" by Akon are the funniest thing ever. I mean, seriously:

smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh.

How do you not laugh? Hard.

So, the thing is, my iPod broke again. Or rather, it's still broken. Whatever. It's doing that clicky clicky, my hard drive is dead thing again. After a few good weeks of enjoying music on my way to and from work, it has died. The above points are a direct result of my being relegated to the Hits station of internet radio while I code documents.

Clever Mousie

So none of us have gotten around to buying any of those sonic repellants and have just been doing our best to keep food off of the counter. Last night, though, Chrissy made her amazing oatmeal bread* and after slicing it we left it on the cutting board. On the counter. We're so smart.

A little while later I came moseying in to get some more bread and the mouse shot out from behind the loaf on the counter and ran into one of the burners on the oven. Angie popped up the oven top, but Mr. Mousie was long gone. I admit, I shrieked like a little girl. I actually like mice in a not germ-infested, domestic forum, but dashing across my counter and eating the amazing oatmeal bread is so not cool.

Angie said there were some traps under the sink that they bought when they had a mouse before, so after securing promises from both Chrissy and Angie that if I woke up before them and came into the kitchen to a mouse corpse, I had the right to come wake one of them up since they're tougher than me and don't mind dealing with little furry bodies, Angie put some peanut butter on the trap and set it on the counter.

This morning I peered around the doorway into the kitchen, and saw only the trap on the counter. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the mouse had licked the peanut butter off the trap without springing it, and then pooped right next to it as if to say, "Ha ha, suckahs!"

The landlady has been called. The exterminator is coming.


* Chrissy's bread may be a factor in why I'm not losing weight so fast, but that is a sacrifice I am just not willing to make.

You Can Call Me Flower if You Want To

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

"When your friends think smile, they think of you. There is not a day that goes by that you can't find something good about the world and your fellow human."

Maybe. I think moreso recently. What do the people who know me think?

The question that was apparently the deciding factor was the last one, which is about ice cream. I initially chose Peanut Butter Mocha Chocolate Swirl because, um, yum! That made me a Sunflower. But then I went back and just selected Chocolate since I'm also into basic chocolate and then I became Echinacea. I think the Sunflower flavor is more true. Although if the peanut butter was wrapped in pretzels, a la Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby, that would be even better.

Mmmm....ice cream....

(Quiz courtesy of Ezpy )

Huh

So, okay, today has been kind of a weird day at work.

And then we get this news.

Today is the weirdest day ever.