Couching My Feelings

I wonder if I will ever get over the fact that I watched a man buy my dream couch as I was walking up to buy it?

It was a horrible sinking feeling that I felt deep down in my soul. Kind of like when someone breaks your heart. I looked at Sean and I could see the sadness he felt for me. I was so broken from this!

I know, I know - a freakin couch. But this was an amazing dream couch that I couldn't have created in my fantasies of what my house would look like if I had all of the money in the world.

The only thing I knew to do is look for another one (fail). Try to get Sean to buy some hilarious stuff (fail, take 2).

At least it ended with a lovely dinner and Sean carrying my chair all over downtown RO. If only it would have been that couch...

Oolong Tea & Superman Muscles

Today started out with pilates and then off to the salon. My stylist was running behind, so I went to Goldfish Tea on Fourth Street to laze. I happened upon an oriental daybed with tons of silk pillows, a lovely cup of ginseng oolong tea that soothed my sore choppers (I got neuromuscular orthotic a few days ago and it hurts and an even more lovely conversation with a (quite handsome and very intelligent) man named Mark (Marc?). We chatted about old books, trend-setting 4 year-olds and working through life's path.

I got my haircut and met up with my cousin & aunt - we had lunch al fresco. While we were relaxing in the breeze, I spotted a tiny superhero walking towards us with what I would guess was his mom. I told my aunt (who was facing the other way) to get ready but not to turn around. About 5 seconds later, I am face-to-face with a 4 year-old with the biggest blue muscles I have ever seen on someone smaller than Govnah Ahnald. He had a ripstop nylon (like a parachute) Superman "S" shirt on that was long-sleeved, gathered with elastic at the wrists/waist and had a small battery-operated fan attached at the bottom. What's the fan for? To keep his muscles blown up, of course! I couldn't help myself, "Hi Superman! I love your shirt!". Mini-Superman smiled like I would if someone would have walked up and handed me keys to a loft apartment down the street and said, "I paid it off. It's all yours." "Thank you", said Mini-S. This kid was so cute and loving his muscles that I couldn't stop there, "Your muscles are so big!", I said, to which Mini-S replied proudly, "I know! They blow up and stay that way!" I wanted to hug him, but didn't. He looked at his mom and kept smiling while he kicked it into a skippity-do down the sidewalk and away he went! Every heart that he passed was melting from pure cuteness.

I can't wait to tell Mark(c?).

Tick Tock Goes the Clock

I am going to be 32 in less than a month. So what? that's right! Because this is happening:
BEFORE




ALMOST AFTER












I know - the "Almost After" is kind of blurry - but you get the gist. Also, that is someone's arm in front of my torso - not my belly sticking out...because I almost don't even have one anymore :-)

Thanks for letting me brag for a minute.

Let's get physical!

I have been channeling my inner Olivia Newton-John and working-out at least 5 days a week for the last 2 months. The hard work is paying off, but in the process I aggravated a knee injury. Unfortunately a trip to a specialist in sports medicine leaves me with no cardio or impact activities - only cycling and swimming to work on my legs from now on, is what he said. BUT, me being me, I found many ways around this rule, like doing pilates mat work and power yoga.

The newest thing I started doing was a lot of work on the stability ball. Anyone who has any experience with this, knows that it makes everything you do more difficult because you have to balance and continue doing other movements successfully...and here's where I screwed up. (warning: if you feel pain through reading about pain, this is going to hurt)

I had all of these new exercises I decided I would try on Sunday and then decide which ones would become part of my routine. I lined up my pages from a popular women's health magazine and got started. Everything was going great until the last one on my list, the "Pike with Leg Lift". Damn, it even sounds difficult! This said exercise involved pushing the balls of my size 11s (yep, I have huge feet) into the ball, while holding my body up with my hands on the floor, arms straight and body bent at the hips. Yep, basically, I was a human triangle - well, for a milli-second, at least. I could tell this was not the move for me when my body started to wobble on the ball before I even did the second part of the move, which was to lift one leg and hold for 2 seconds, then the other. I mean, this move was NOT steady and I couldn't stop wobbling!

BAM! in one fell swoop, out went the ball from under my feet and down went both knees slamming onto my hardwood floor. I silently screamed and rubbed my knees as I rocked back in forth and thought "SHIT! I totally cracked my knee caps trying to avoid injuring my knee caps! I need ice, stat!" and with that I proceeded to hunt in the freezer for my 2 bags of peas that I bought for an occasion just like this. I hate peas, but boy-oh-boy I love what they do for a swollen knee.

p.s. - my knees are fine, I have small bruises and they are sore, but nothing long-term. The "Pike" move is out, though.

I am Screaming for Ice Cream!

The Local Scoop is this new ice cream shop(pe?) that is tucked away a few block from me, hidden in my little neighborhood. I have been waiting for that perfect lazy day to visit and get a delicious frozen treat and felt like yesterday was that day. I have been feeling slightly under the weather, so I took it easy over the holiday weekend and this was going to be my excitement - I am a wild one, you know!

I ride my bike the 4-ish blocks to The Local Scoop and as I am pulling up, I notice that they don't have the "We Accept M/C, Visa" sticker on the door. Oh Snap! My heart sinks and I talk myself down - "It's probably just that they haven't received the sticker in the mail, yet.", I say to myself as I open the door. I mean, give me a break! I don't carry cash at all, and most definitely when I ride my bike. If I get mugged, I can call and have my card canceled before that low-life thief gets at my account - instead of giving them a $20 bill that will be used to buy booze or crack. I am sure that most people in my neighborhood are of a similar mindset.

When I walk inside I notice 3 things:

1. There is a twenty-something guy sitting on the window sill in an ugly t-shirt
2. There are a few other same-aged guys standing in a little huddle around the sill-dweller
3. No one seems to be doing squat or giving a shit about the fact that a customer is walking in

They are all looking at me like I just broke up their private party - whatever, I am here, so I bite and say, "hi, do you guys take credit cards?" Tie-dye says, "No, cash only" to which I reply, "are you planning on taking them in the future?" and he says, "I don't know". That response is the one thing at that moment, that makes me want to smack him in the face with serious follow-through and then spin with my arm firmly held out from my body with my palm perpendicular to the floor as I make contact with every one of those guys' cheeks. But, instead of getting arrested for assault, I just walk out and pout all the way home.

Effff!! I had such high hopes for The Local Scoop. Yeah, I had never even been in there, but I had been fantasizing about how this place could be a cool little hang out for the people in our 'hood and maybe all of us older kids would have a place to walk to in the summer that wasn't on Main. The only other ice cream place in the area that I somewhat like is across a busy road and has the DUMBEST staff of Brittneys, Kelseys and Bryces that one place could ever be so fortunate to compile. It also has too many choices and flavors that seem to be there only to confuse and complicate matters. Hmmm...Maybe that's why the staff seems so dense.

If I miraculously come into some money, I will open a full-service desert place that serves good ice cream, cookies, cupcakes & penny candy, has inside & outside seating and accepts CREDIT CARDS.

Who carries cash anymore besides the valet and the exotic dancer at your local gentleman's club? Your grandma? Yeah, she doesn't count.