In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb (that was mauled by the lion)

That may not be the exact saying, but I find it very appropriate for the month of March. I am so glad to see it finally behind me. How glad? Let me demonstrate in pictures. This first one shows the lion as naïve and unaware of the mountain of work that loomed in the distance. I was full of energy and ready to take on my new job responsibilities. Silly, lion.

Then came my own version of March Madness. I think my mail man hates me. I have become strangely forgetful to go and pick up my mail on any sort of regular basis. Now I find it waded up into interesting shapes. Nothing resembling origami, more along the lines of wad-my maggie or crumple-bill. It doesn’t have the same attention to detail that origami requires. Still, this crude, yet effective way of folding paper is certainly effective in getting my attention. It was during this period that I definitely felt the weight of the world on me. It was a never ending cycle of early mornings, late nights, hours of conference calls and a less than graceful decline into “comfy clothes” that looked strangely like the ones I wore to bed. The picture really doesn’t do the time period justice, but there was no way I was going to post a picture sporting one of the many “hair sculptures” I’ve been sporting the last 2 weeks.

Finally, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. It’s called April. With March behind me, so is a very ugly deadline. Oh, I know that the work is still there, but I am feeling much better about dealing with what remains. So much so that I went and did some thing crazy this morning. I got a massage. I have to tell you, I am not a massage person. I think I was born tense and it has just gotten worse with age. Being the overachiever I am I wasn’t sure how to feel when the masseuse told me I was a “spectacular mess” of knots. All the years of bad posture, laptop bags, and general hunching over computer screens is catching up with me. Since the last thing I want is to end up looking like Quasimodo, I have to make some changes. Tomorrow. For tonight I am going to another birthday party.

I’ll have more details about how that all went later. The thing to know now is that my stress is coming back to this side of manageable and I think I am going to be sleeping a lot better. Maybe it will look something like this? Although probably without the lipstick.

Fast Forward

I can’t believe how fast time is flying past me lately. I’m being consumed by work. It’s not fun right now, so I really need to think about a spot in the future to look forward to and be happy. Yesterday I received the perfect message. Keane is coming back to the US in May.

I had to get up at 5am to get online and buy tickets for the show in LA. Ok, I probably didn’t need to get up that early. They weren’t going to sell out in the first 15 minutes. I don’t care. I wanted to make sure I have good seats. So it all worked out well and I have that part done.

I have managed to talk Heidi into coming with me. I don’t know what to expect from that. She and I don’t exactly listen to the same music. Just like everyone else I have dragged to a Keane concert (Lori, Marienne, David) she knows the one single they had and that’s it. That’s fine with me. She says she is going so she can see me completely freak out. I would hate to disappoint her.

Next up is finding a hotel. Now, I tried this once before with bad results. I think we all remember my meltdown last fall when they cancelled their dates. Well, I am going to keep a positive attitude that it isn’t going to happen again. So, I will begin the hotel search sometime when I am not completely swamped with work. Hopefully, that won’t translate into waiting until I get to town the day of the concert.

I also have some time to start to ease Heidi into the pre-show freak out. Basically, I am going to have to convince her that getting there several hours early is a GOOD thing. I think I am going to have an uphill battle with that one. At least it should be nice weather. I remember when I saw them in Dallas one summer. It was so freakin’ hot and humid waiting outside. Luckily, it was an indoor venue; otherwise I might have passed out.

Anyway, I know I am babbling at this point. I’m just glad I have a bright spot to think about in the near future. So far, I am staying true to form. This will be the 6th concert and once again I am seeing them in a new location. I have yet to repeat the city or venue. Mimi- if I thought I could make it happen, I would totally come to Chicago and see them there. If I wouldn’t drive you completely nuts, you might even want to go with me!

Southpaw

This weekend I went out to the golf course and tried out my grandpa’s golf clubs. I’ve had them for almost 3 years and haven’t touched them. I’m trying to decide if golf is a hobby I want to take up or not. Helping me in the quest is my new friend, Steve.

I met Steve at a party and I found out that he is left-handed as well. He said that he would be glad to meet me at the golf course and we could see what my level of interest (and skill, I’m guessing) was. Turns out I wasn’t too bad. By that comment, I mean that I generally made contact with the ball. It wasn’t always pretty, but it wasn’t altogether discouraging either. What I like about Steve is that he gave me a couple of basic pointers and then just let me go. I think if he was going to critique every nuance of my swing and where my feet were, I was going to get irritated pretty fast. Then again, Steve had some problems of his own to deal with. I think the proper term is slice. Maybe more like wicked slice. I can't be sure.

So, now I need to think about what my next move is. If I really want to continue, and I think I do, then I have to decide what I can afford to do. Unfortunately, golf is an expensive hobby. I think I would benefit from having some lessons, but I need to do some research on the cost. Also, I need shoes!!! That’s all I need is a hobby that I get to accessorize with new clothes and new shoes. Thank goodness I already have the clubs!

Speaking of the clubs, I need to invest in a shoulder strap for my bag or something with wheels. The bag I have was custom made and is starting to fall apart. Plus, it only has one strap to carry it and it was pretty rough on my hands. I’m thinking the wheel option sounds like a good idea since I don’t know how I would get a strap attached to it.

All in all, it was fun way to spend a Sunday morning and Steve was a real peach for taking time with me. I think we are going to do it again just to make sure my performance wasn’t some one time fluke. I was able to hit the ball pretty straight, which Steve said was a good thing my first time out. My putting game needs some work, but it isn’t awful. I got some good natured comments from some of the other guys at the driving range and they seemed genuinely surprised that it was first time out there. Wasn’t that nice? Mostly, it was directed more toward the fact that Steve and I are lefties. We were the only lefties on the driving range. It’s weird to be facing people.

I’m sure I will keep you all up to date on the goings on at the golf course. Now, I need to find cherry head covers. A new quest!!!

New Spring Accessory

It seems to be the time of year when I get inundated with new spring catalogs. Every year I think I am going to branch out and buy some fun sundresses. Every year I meet with the same conclusion: sundresses look awful on me. I feel like a shapeless blob. They are super comfortable, so sometimes I just don’t care what I look like. Of course that type of attitude is limited to staying at home, or making the emergency run to the drug store or grocery. Other than that, they make me feel ugly and shapeless, and who needs that?

So this past weekend I took some time to once again go try on sundresses. Isn’t that the definition of insanity? I don’t know why I expect the result to be any different. Empire waists and A-line skirts make me feel like I am a human version of the Big Top tent at the circus. Baby doll dresses? Puh-lease. Talk about looking like an escapee from the Good Ship Lollipop! I have to embrace the fact that the classic sheath dress is the way I need to go and just be done with it. Long and flowing is fine for hippies and people with no hips at all, but not me.

I think what I need are more visual reminders around me. I look at icons like Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell and any of those other fuller-figure gals and see that none of them are pictured wearing the scary fashion creations made these days. I realize it is a product of the times, but I think I would do well to keep their examples in mind. It’s probably why I enjoy the web site Daddy O’s so much. Let’s bring the 50’s back.

But, here I am off topic. What I really wanted to talk about was my weekend. I was the social butterfly I dreamed of being since moving here. Friday night I was invited to a birthday party. It was nice. I went out to North Las Vegas for the first time. It was weird to be some place where it was almost impossible to see the Strip. It was also my first experience to meet some people that work on the Strip. Talk about insider information! It was a lot of gossip about the hotels and some of the entertainers, so I just sat back and listened.

When I got home that night, I saw my neighbors sitting out on their patio and decided to stop and say hello. I have said hi in the past, but never really had a conversation with them. Well, my little chat lasted about 3 hours. I felt kind of bad afterward, but they seemed to be fine. They have a son who is about to turn 1 and so I know sleep is still kind of precious, but they seemed ok with hanging out for a while.

Saturday, Heidi and I went to the Rio to see about getting tickets for Prince. The word on the street is that he is going to stop performing after this month. I also heard though that he is in contract negotiations to possibly extend his time here. That being said, the tickets prices for the rest of this month are ridiculous. They want $250 dollars for the general admission tickets. Who knows what they may be asking for the VIP tickets. Heidi and I decided to skip it and hope he decides to extend his contract. No way am I going to pay that much for a concert ticket. I didn’t even pay that much to see Paul McCartney and he was a Beatle!!!

After that disappointment, we decided to stay for dinner and went to a Mexican restaurant there at the hotel. Heidi brought her daughter Harmony along with us, so we stayed to watch the “Carnival in the Sky” show where they have floats come out and circle over the casino floor. There are dancers on the floats that toss beads out, so of course we had to catch some necklaces for Harmony. It was a nice night and I was actually glad to head to the Strip since I haven’t been in months.

Sunday was all about recovery and then the sundress insanity. After being able to go out and meet some really nice new people, I have made the decision that the new spring accessory is me. I have people starting to plan their visits now while the weather is still nice. It’s a great time to come out and enjoy the weather, so let me know if you are planning a trip. I can assure you that I will not squire you around town wearing anything that looks like a muumuu.

My Baby Sister

As you all know by now, I have 2 sisters. My baby sister just celebrated the ripe old age of 31. And if that doesn’t make many of you feel old by comparison, then I don’t know what will. Wait, yes I do. She has 3 kids and one of them is going to be 11 this year. Ugh.

As far as sisters go, she and I manage to get along pretty well. Having 5 years between us has presented some challenges over the years, but never anything we couldn’t work through. My relationship with her is very different in some respects than it is with my other sister. I think since Autumn and me are so close in age, we naturally have some similarities in both perspective and experiences that Lydia didn’t get the same opportunity to share. Growing up she was my brother’s sidekick and partner in crime much as Autumn was for me.

I had already moved out of the house by the time she went through her high school years, which I think we can all agree are pretty turbulent. When I think back on that time period, I know I was a typical kid who was more interested in what was going on in my own life (college) than I was in her high school experience. That time is kind of a blur for me in those respects. I had the opportunity to stay put in one high school, and I think she may have ended up in 3 different ones. I may be wrong on that, but I know it was at least 2.

Physically, she was like a spider when she was little- all arms and legs. Both of my sisters got the long legs in this family. She was always a super skinny kid and very accident prone. The good news is that she is really good to have around in an emergency because experience has taught her to not be easily rattled. The bad news may be that the scars probably kept her from a lucrative modeling career. I have often thought she embodied all the physical traits I wish I could change in myself.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of her. I just think she looks adorable. I also see a bit of both of her daughters in this picture. It’s hard for me to get my head around the fact that she has 3 kids. She is always going to be my baby sister. Happy Birthday!!!!