One of those days. . .

I should have known this morning it was going to be one of those days when I dropped my scraper under the car, exactly between the two back wheels where I couldn't reach it.

Or my first clue could've been when I was running late in the first place and came out only to discover a thick layer of frost on the car. That's when I dropped my scraper. Luckily, I have another one and was able to use that to pull the first out. I jumped in the car and hurried over to TRAX, knowing full well I was cutting it close. Too close it seems since I watched the 7:40 train take off as I was walking up.

Dang it!

I spent the morning doing some required training, some of which seems like common sense to me, but I guess others must not think so or I wouldn't have to do it. Nothing too catastrophic happened during the day, except I wasn't as productive as I should've been.

Since I was later than planned this morning, I had planned to stay a little later. What I didn't anticipate was a last-minute meeting with my supervisor who will be out of the office for the next couple of days just as I was walking out the door. It was short but just long enough to make me miss both the 5:25 and 5:40. I think the 5:40 train must've come early because I came out almost exactly then.

Add it to my list.

At that point I just took it all in stride and settled in for a chilly wait for the train. I had some reading I was behind on anyway so I was able to catch up.

There was a class I wanted to go to at the gym at 7:30 so I rushed home from TRAX, threw it together, raced upstairs to change into my exercise clothes and took off. I was only about 5 minutes late, but I was distressed to discover the aerobics room completely full and the equipment short. Luckily one of the ladies told me her daughter had decided not to do the class so I could just use her equipment.

But I did find that the class actually started at 7:15 instead of 7:30. I had a feeling that was going to be the case and even called the gym to make sure it wasn't, but, alas, such was not the case. Oh well.

As I published this post my blog did the weird thing where it takes out all the spaces for some unknown reason, so now I have to do it from my desktop. What the heck?

To end on a happy note, I have a couple good things that happened today. First, I wore my fabulous new shirt today and had quite a few compliments on it. Thanks to my mom and sister for recommending I buy it. Secondly, on my mad rush up to the gym, I hit all green lights, which is how I wasn't later than 5 minutes. Yay!

Discrimination!

On Saturday night I realized late in the evening that I might need a last-minute item from the store. I loaded myself up into the car and raced down the freeway to Kohl's to check the situation out. It turned out that I chose not to buy the item I'd gone to see because it was too expensive, but I did a little looking whilist I was there.

I've been feeling the need for new sheets in the last little while, so I decided to quickly check the selection. And I found the most luxurious set of 600 count sateen sheets, and I thought I'd found exactly the set for me, whenever such time comes that I choose to buy said sheets. . . until I realized something very important.

The sheets don't come in twin size.

They come in full/queen or queen/king but no twin anywhere to be found. Ugh! I felt very discriminated against as a single person who chooses to keep a twin bed instead of upgrading to a queen. They had another version of the sheets that does come in twin, but they were not as high thread count as the other ones. And, really, it's the principle of the thing. This isn't the first time I've found that set of sheets in every size but twin either, which only added to my frustration.

Come on stores, even if I don't have a queen bed I still like nice sheets, so stock them in ALL sizes please!

Shoe Snob!

Like many women, I’ve always appreciated a good pair of shoes. Until I lived with the Bibliophile, I used to think I had a lot of shoes, but then I discovered differently. Although I have a nice collection, I’ve never truly felt a lack . . . until recently.

I first heard about DSW from the Fashionista, and I visited it for the first time last May. But I didn’t buy my first pair of shoes there until about six weeks ago. And now I’m ruined forever!

I don’t mean I’m only going to buy shoes from DSW; on the contrary I’ll look for them wherever I can find them. But I am ruined by the fact that I now love extremely tall heels. And I had no idea how much people notice shoes until I wore my hot heels and received many compliments on them. Now I desire more and more. . .

Once upon a time, heels like this would have delighted me.

Now I’m ruined forever because I’m officially in love with shoes like this, or hooker heels as my brother-in-law called them because they’re so tall.

And in case you’re wondering, yes I did have to learn to walk in these, but I’m doing very well so far. Oh and I forgot to mention how much fun it is to be taller than someone for once in my life. I’ve never experienced that before, and I find I enjoy it.

Adventures on TRAX

I've officially been riding the train to work for a little over six months now. Since I'd heard lots of stories from others who are regular TRAX riders I half expected to have gathered quite a collection of them. Since I ride during the commuter times most of my fellow passengers are businesspeople, so for the most part I haven't had too many interesting stories. . . until the last couple of weeks.

Last Friday I was on my way home. When I don't care to be bothered, I usually put my iPod in, and people leave me alone. I think we were about at 1300 South when these two girls got on with a guitar. I hate to be stereotypical, but they looked like the folksy-type people who would enjoy playing the guitar.

I was surprised when they took a seat on the floor. It's true there wasn't a lot of space, but I'm guessing they could've found a place. It was even more interesting when they pulled out the guitar and started having a mini concert right there on the train. Skeptical Tammy (who's been to New York and seen as much) half expected them to ask for money, but such was not the case. Instead, they seemed to be singing just for the sake of singing.

At first I left my iPod in and tried to tune them out, but then I decided I'd rather listen because they sounded good together. I talked to them a little bit and listened until they got off at the same stop as me. But the funniest part of the story wasn't the guitar players but the other girl in that section of the train. She apparently decided since these girls weren't afraid to sing in public, neither should she be. As I walked toward my car, I was being serenaded to her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I'm not a singer myself, but she wasn't either, so I didn't necessarily think it was wise on her part.

The next experience happened just this week. I'd been working from home that morning so I was taking the train at a different time than normal. Again, I had my iPod in and was minding my own business. I was only two stops away from work when this older gentleman with a walker got on the train. If there hadn't been a seat, I would've given mine up, but as it was, there was no need. What I didn't expect was for him to take up a conversation with me.

It seemed innocent enough. . . until he started telling me all these things about me were beautiful, from my shades (I keep them on to look less approachable, but it doesn't always work) to my ring to my appearance. That made me feel slightly uncomfortable even if I felt like he was mostly harmless. I was almost at my stop when he held out his hand to introduce himself, I reached mine out and instead of shaking it, he kissed it. Yeah, even more uncomfortable. Sweet, but slightly weird too. I was glad for my stop.

This entry is already very long, but I have one more quick thing to share, but it involves me narrowly avoiding a face plant off TRAX, so I hope it's worthwhile to keep reading. I was wearing heels (luckily not my hooker heels or I would've been in serious trouble!) and I tripped over the hem of my pants. Since I was holding the rail, I caught myself before I could fall, but it was close though!

Remembering Ashley

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week was the one year anniversary of my beautiful niece’s passing. As part of that day, my sister and her husband (this niece’s parents) came down here for a day to do some of her favorite activities to help us remember her and celebrate her life. I think it was nice to be able to do so and would like to share pictures of that day.

One of the things I was excited about in having my sister’s family visit was to show them my new home. And they liked it too! We planned to go to the aquarium right when it opened, only to discover that wasn’t until 11 a.m. So, we took the boys to the mall so they could get out some of that energy.

After our little jaunt to the mall, we hit the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. We came not a moment too soon as it gets busy pretty much as soon as it opens. Here’s a few highlights.

This is Kimball by the toads if I’m not mistaken and then Dennis driving pretend boat out on the Great Salt Lake. Notice the position of his hat. Yes, this is one cool kid.

Call me narcissistic if you will, but I do like pictures of myself at these family events to prove I was there. Here’s me with Kimball and there’s Eugene by the lionfish. Did you know they’re actually poisonous to humans and can really harm you?

Dennis was fascinated by the stingrays. He probably spent 20 minutes just standing there touching them as they swam past.

 

Next we went to South America. I didn’t take pictures of all the critters because frankly some of them are just plain creepy. But I LOVED the penguins! I’m hoping I can upload my video of them jumping in and out of the water. So cute!

Finally, we ate lunch at Chuck-a-rama because that was Miss Ashley’s favorite.

Sad day! I just discovered that I can’t upload the video because,alas I don’t have a YouTube account, and my Internet is being super slow so I can’t get one either. Oh well! Perhaps I’ll post that separately.

In Memorium

It was one year ago today that our beautiful angel was taken home to her Father in Heaven. It was a relief at the time to know her suffering was over and she could finally be at peace, but man did it hurt to know she was gone, that we wouldn't see her in this life again.

One year later, well, it still hurts to know that she's gone. The hole is still there, and nothing can ever fill it. I was talking about this with a good friend just a few weeks ago. We were talking about the fact that you don't ever really get over losing someone you love, but you just get stronger so you can bear it. And that's what has really happened to me this year.

Grief comes in waves and at different times. And sometimes it's surprising what brings it on. Like last summer when I was sorting through some papers and found a picture she drew of me, complete with earrings. I cried over that. Later, after my actual move when I was unpacking a box one day, I came across the Willow Tree figure a dear friend and her mother gave me after Ashley's passing. It's called "Always I will remember." I was struck again at how kind it was for them to do that, and then it hit me that she would never be coming to see my new place. I could never make memories with her here, and that brought on a whole new round of grief that I wasn't really prepared for. But I dealt with it, just as I've dealt with everything else this year.

Although I feel sad and broken inside just now, I also want you all to know that I know without a shadow of a doubt that although Ashley is no longer here on the earth, she is not gone. That has been made very clear to me in the last year. I have felt her near at different times, and I know she watches over us. She's been at key family events the same as she would've been had she not died. She's just shown her love and support in a different way. How touching and merciful of our Father in Heaven to allow her to do that.

Lest I end this post on a sad note and leave everyone depressed, I'm going to put happy things in here too. I dedicate this post to my beautiful niece, Ashley Marie Winn, in memory of the way she touched so many lives in just a short space of time. I dedicate it to her beautiful smile, to her ability to love, to how she loved to have fun, to her cute dancing, to her ability to endure the trials of her mortal life. I dedicate it to her delightful sass, to her intelligence and to everything that made her Ashley. Her life may have been short, but it was very well lived. And I'm still banking on the day when I can see her again, take her into my arms and tell her just how much I love her!

The 31-Day Sugar Challenge

The time has come to take drastic measures again. And guess what that means? Yup, for the entire month of March (and into April too if I can handle it), I will not be partaking of any sugars, save only the natural variety. Yes, I know that it's in virtually everything so i can't get away from it completely, but I can sure avoid quite a few calories by staying away from the blatant versions of it, i.e. desserts, etc.

I want to be healthier, and quite honestly I've been overindulgent during my birth month. It hasn't affected me quite as much as it could have, but I'm terrified of going that direction so I decided it was time to manage the situation in the best way I could. That means giving up dessert for the next 31 days, and I know that I can do it!

A lot of my reasons for doing this have to do with being healthier and continuing to lose weight, but the other part of it is to prove to myself that I can. I did it last May, which is also 31 days, and a few times it felt like I was surely going to wither away from lack of sugar, but I did not. Not only was I stronger for it, but it seriously cut down on the sugar I consumed in the months that followed. I've tried to repeat this two other times since and keep failing, so it's time to prove to myself that I can.

Wish me luck in this endeavor! Sorry you have to share in this, but I need the accountability that writing in my blog provides, so you get to be involved vicariously. Isn't that fun?! :)