Archives

Misadventures

May31

Karma bitchLately, my life has been one laughable moment after another. Nothing bad, per se except that I have unintentionally made people laugh at stupid stuff I’ve done or have had happened to me.

It all kind of started a few of weeks ago when I was at the gym running one night. I know some people are “surprised” I was at the gym, but I kind of “live” there so whatever. Anyway, this particular night, I wore some grey pants to run in. That was a mistake because about 2/3 of the way through my run, I looked down to see that I was sweating so much that it appeared that I had peed my pants. Had I been wearing black pants to run in, this would not have been a problem.

ANYWAY, when you are at the gym as often as I am, you will start to see the same people around the same time. Lately, I’ve noticed this rather attractive guy there. And he sometimes makes me “Edith googly-eyed” if I see him and he smiles and says hello. (I’M HUMAN OK!) This particular night, when I got to the gym, I didn’t see him so all was well in my world because there was no thinking, do I look unbelievably awful right now?

Continue reading →

A Fatty Tale

May29

20130528-193921.jpgI work out. A lot. I go through spurts of doing nothing and then get crazy and try to do too much to make up for my lack of nothing. Lately however, I have been on a streak where I have done something every day. I haven’t stopped doing something since the day after Turkey Day 2011. You would think that after doing all of that working out, I’d be as thin as a toothpick.

You’d be wrong. In fact, I am by all intents, purposes and definitions obese. Well, maybe not obese but definitely overweight. Why? Because at times I have eaten like complete crap and while you can exercise to your heart’s content and even so much that you pass out (I’ve kind of had that happen) unless you clean up your diet, you will be overweight. It doesn’t help when you end up using food for comfort when all other things in life are going as badly as possible. And it also doesn’t help when for so many cultures, food is a way to show affection for people. If you go somewhere and don’t eat, then it is viewed as an insult. Sometimes not eating is just because you aren’t hungry and can’t stomach another bite, but you will eat anyway so as not to offend others.  Continue reading →

Food Glorious Food

Apr2
who doesn't love red velvet pancakes for brunch?

who wouldn’t love red velvet pancakes for brunch?

It’s kind of obscene how much I think about food. While working, watching sports or television and even when I am working out, I am thinking about food. Not necessarily what I am going to eat. Sometimes that is the case, but other times it might be what I should eat because I am not hungry and I have to eat so that I can keep running. Other times, I am brainstorming about how I can make an interesting dish. Or in reality, how I can make myself a feast for lunch.

Last year, I went to see a nutritionist. I wasn’t eating too badly, but at the same time, I wanted to do it better since 1) I am a vegetarian and 2) I was concerned that I might not be getting enough of certain nutrients. Secondarily, I wanted to lose weight and while I was already pretty good about doing the working out thing, I knew that ultimately, I needed to change how I ate to really make that goal happen. Seeing the nutritionist was the best thing that I could have done for myself. I met with someone who was okay with me not liking certain foods and not forcing me to eat them because “it is what vegetarians should eat.” She also was very helpful in helping to understand that and look at food as a way of fueling my body to do what I wanted.

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The Ignored

Mar31

Middle kid syndrome. If you are a middle kid, you understand this. If you are an oldest or youngest, chances are you don’t really have a clue about it, unless something happened in your life that caused you to suffer. What exactly is middle kid syndrome? It is that situation where you are ignored by your family because attention is paid to the older kid or the younger kid. You learn to be invisible so as not to cause grief because you parents have other stiff to deal with. Quietly, you go about your business. If people notice you, it is mostly because you ended up doing something really amazing that called for praise.

Perhaps in school, your parents got a note from a teacher about a great thing you did in school. Or maybe you play a sport and scored the game winner. In any event, most of the time what you do goes unnoticed.

There is another group of people who suffer middle kid syndrome and these people really go out of their way to not be a burden to their parents and family. Those people are siblings of those who have cancer. Specifically, I am talking about kids who have a brother or sister who has cancer. Continue reading →

A Cup of Coffee

Jan24

coffeecupIt was brief. Maybe longer than what many consider brief, but a short stay nonetheless. You dropped in for a coffee. Or maybe I stopped by for coffee.

Talking and laughing. Sharing moments and inside jokes. Making others wonder just what is going on. Does he like her? Does she like him? Do they know the other likes them?

Seems it was all fun and games until you really had a conversation. Not the usual banter but it was disguised as such for the outside world to see. Discussing things that you manage to reveal information about yourself to the other, yet to the outsiders, just banal chit-chat. Continue reading →

Questions

Jan7

Sometimes, there are just too many questions that come to mind. Mostly they have to do with how the world operates and my interactions with others in the world. Unfortunately, if I ever “get” answers to these questions I have they are never satisfactory answers. The answers usually make no sense. Maybe one day I will get answers that make sense, but for now, here are the various questions that bother me. Please keep in mind the “you” is just a general term and not at anyone specifically:

  • Why does it matter to you who someone else loves?
  • How does who someone else loves affect your life?
  • Just because someone else loves someone you don’t approve of (and you don’t know either person) why do you feel a need to condemn those people?
  • Do you really believe that some people shouldn’t have access to medical care?
  • If someone needs medical care and cannot pay for it, do you think they should just suffer because they happened to be in a position that doesn’t allow for payment now?
  • Why do you think that what you believe is the only way and that if people don’t believe as you do, they need to be condemned and hurt?
  • Where is there proof that cutting taxes creates jobs?
  • Is there an amount where you can say, “yeah, you have too much money and don’t need more”?
  • Why is it when you get older, you suddenly can no longer tolerate the cold?
  • Is it ever too easy to qualify for the Boston Marathon?
  • Why do people who generally do horrible things and are generally considered horrible people by others always seem to catch the breaks in life?
  • Why is science viewed as a bad thing by so many?
  • Why are so many people delusional that they will one day be whatever they aspire to when if you look at the cold hard facts, the aspirations are not going to come true?
  • Why are cable companies afraid to let people pick what they want in a viewing package a la carte? Continue reading →

Exercise is My Strength and Weakness

Dec28

I work out a lot. Well, not so much a lot but it seems that way when you engage in the activity daily. If you have read any previous entries, you know I was and still am on a streak of consecutive days after my gym had a 30-day challenge last year. If you are wondering, they did it again this year and of course I completed it. I had to as the Chicago Marathon has gone up in price and the month of saved dues will go a long way toward paying for a spot in the 2013 edition of the marathon.

One “drawback” of my constant working out is that every once in a while, I fail to listen to what my body needs and instead focus on what my head wants. Last night, I had one of those experiences where I really should have done what I needed instead of just going with the flow and what my head was thinking. To back track a bit, my gym lately has been giving out guest passes to us members to get us to bring in friends to maybe join us. Even more interesting, my gym called me up one day earlier this month to give me two one-week passes to bring my friends to work out with me. All because the membership crew heard I had been at the gym nearly every day. Additional background: I have a cold. Nothing to really stop me from doing anything, but enough to make me need to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. This cold is the result of sitting across from a woman at work who is disgusting in that she REFUSES to cover her mouth when sneezing / coughing. Continue reading →

I Hate Shopping

Nov15

Yes, I said it. Yes, for some people, that is a blasphemous statement to make. I don’t enjoy shopping. At least for clothing. Nothing ever fits very well. Even after losing a few pounds, clothes still just don’t fit well so trying to buy them is the world’s most frustrating experience at times for me.

Yet, there is one type of clothing that I actually don’t mind shopping for. Running and workout attire. Could that be because it is typically stretchy and therefore will fit? Probably not. Especially when I think of all the hassle and drama I must endure when purchasing new running shoes each year. And that time has just come and it looks like I still might not have a pair I really like. But that is a story for another day.

Last week, Fleet Feet Chicago had its annual Fall Fashion Show. And just like last year, this year’s show did not disappoint me. Last year, I walked away with the feeling that running outside was really no big deal. This year, the motto was “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.” The outfits that we saw really seemed to drive that point home for me. And honestly, I can’t wait for it to be cold so I can run outside. Weird? Maybe, but it is al true that I’m more excited than ever to run outside. Continue reading →

They Laugh at You

Jul13

You think you are the greatest. The best at everything. The LEADER. The one that others should look up to because of your greatness.

However, you’re ill-informed. You don’t know your actual history. You don’t know your actual laws. You don’t know how things really work.

Instead, they laugh at you. They know your history better than you do. They know how your laws truly work. They might try to explain it to you, but they decide it’s just not worth it; you won’t listen because you think you know best.

When confronted with your lack of knowledge, you just default to your standard “everyone else is stupid and doesn’t really know the real deal.” So, they laugh at you. You get irrefutable proof of your lack of knowledge, but still you default to your standard belief of knowing better. Continue reading →

Talk to me like I am a Five-year old

Mar18

I don’t get it. I try to make it make sense in my head. Yet, I just cannot rationalize it. This election cycle is crazy. Specifically, some things that I don’t think should be an issue are an issue. So much so that I along with many other women feel under attack.

What am I talking about? Birth Control. Apparently, the GOP candidates for President are hell-bent on attacking the use of birth control. The number of laws that I have seen proposed by republican legislators lately is frightening to me.

Bills requiring doctors to lie to women about how far along in a pregnancy they are to stop abortion. Bills allowing for an employer to FIRE an employee if she is using birth control for a reason that is NOT other than to prevent pregnancy. Bills saying that women should be told that having an abortion will lead to breast cancer.

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. EF? Call me crazy, but I thought it was 2012. And I also thought that a huge tenet of Republican / Conservative policy was for the GOVERNMENT to STAY OUT OF PEOPLE’S PERSONAL LIVES. Well, except when it comes to what women are allowed to do with their bodies.

I seriously do not understand how this works. You want the government to not tell you what to do and to stay out of your business. Yet, in the very next sentence, you are screaming for the government to be involved in something that is VERY private (at least I thought it was) and personal to a person.

Please explain to me how these two ideas mesh. If you tell me it is about protecting another person, then I have to ask you why does a woman’s rights, feelings, and thought suddenly get pushed aside because she is carrying a potential new person? And I say potential because I am one of those crazy folks who doesn’t believe that life begins at conception. Continue reading →