Advice

In response to yesterday's pep talk post, I received this ecard with a little advice for next time.

And this is why I love my people.

Pep Talk

I was nearing the point of tears at work today and received the best pep talk ever.

Just remember that [name removed to protect the innocent] crapped her pants on the bus and that you didn't.
Which makes you a winner.
Now get those sweaty eyeballs under control and give Mickey the biggest 3 finger* high five.


*Mickey has four fingers (including his thumb). Oh, the things I now know.

Conversation of the Day

Me: Sometimes I have to buy DVDs because they're $5 and that's pretty much free and maybe I'll watch them at some point in the future.
AB: Maybe watch them in the future?
Me: Yeah, maybe I'll have kids that will....
AB: You won't.
...
Me: That's the worst possible thing you could have ever said to me.


For the record he meant that my kids wouldn't want to watch them, but it's still a gem of a conversation.

Scootsie

Well, Summer decided to show up in Seattle again. And it's HOT. I know 92 degrees doesn't seem very hot to some of you, like my sister who lives in Arizona where it's supposed to be 104 degrees tomorrow, but 92 degrees and (what seems like) not a single house in the city with air conditioning makes for a slightly uncomfortable time.

Regardless of how uncomfortable it is, you have to make the most of the sunny days to stock up for the inevitable hibernation of the sun. If you're looking for any ideas, might I suggest this one?

Yes, those are scooters. Scootsies, as I lovingly called them.
(Yes, that is a photo of a photo*.)

And yes, we rode those scootsies around Bainbridge Island.
It was so. much. fun.
So much.

I won't lie. I was nervous. That's just how I roll.

On the ferry over to the island my nervousness was at a 6. Maybe a 7.

Then we got there. And I saw the scootsies. And I put on that helmet (as if I needed my head to look any bigger) and tried to look like it was nbd, but I was at about a 9.4 on the nervous scale.

In the spirit of not letting myself scare myself out of doing things I want to do, I just got on my scootsie and went for it. I'm so glad I did, because everything about it was wonderful.

Some highlights:
The island was beautiful. We rode like the wind for nearly 3 hours. I felt like I was on Dumb & Dumber. I didn't crash. Beautiful view of the city. So much water! Hopping on weird logs sticking of the water. An abandoned, graffiti'd mill of some sort where we met a nice graffiti artist doing his thing. Walking out into the water that was so cold my feet went numb. Adam and Cassie stripping down to the least amount of clothing they could (while remaining appropriate) and jumping into the water. Adam's attire for the remainder of the ride. So many trees. Quiet back roads. This boat.

And did I mention that I didn't crash? Bonus.

So, Scootsie, I had a really great day. We should do this again sometime. Call me.


PS:
Cassie has never been happier.
Adam looks like a cop.

*We documented with much better photos, I just don't have them. Yet.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Monday vs. Friday.

Welcome to Seattle.

Just Because.

We have a chalkboard door.
My roommate draws chick robots.
nbd.

"Can you ever just be whelmed?"

It is my opinion that being overwhelmed comes in at least two forms.


1. Knowing clearly how to do all that is asked of you, but just having too many things piled up at once to get it all done.
2. Not having as many individual tasks, but not knowing, with any sort of certainty, how to do any of them.


Which is worse?

I've Been Roaming Around...

Driving past The Gorge last weekend reminded me of my spur of the moment decision to hit up the Kings of Leon concert there in July. I'd never been to a show at The Gorge and I thought that after two years it was time to check that off the list.

Just a quick stop at the Dairy Freeze for dinner. We like to keep it classy.

It was 90 degrees, but it felt amazing. 

The view [of nature] was beautiful and the people watching was unparalleled. No, really. Apparently we missed the memo about wearing your swimsuit and/or any other article of clothing that covers just as little. I was entirely overdressed.

 

I will forever think of Cara every time I hear Kings of Leon. Memorial Day 2009. Oregon Coast. The album on repeat. It was only fitting that I see them with her.

I kind of love this photo of Linds and I. It really just sums up a lot.

 The show a little disappointing since I couldn't really hear anything. At one point the entire lawn was chanting "Turn. It. Up!",  so it wasn't just me that was having issues. But it was fun to hang out with these ladies.

Okay. So I'm a creepster and took this photo of the adorable family in front of us. The two boys were probably 9 and 11 (side note: I'm SO bad at guessing ages; they could have been 5 and 15 for all I know.) and they were still just sweet, innocent kids. They weren't too cool yet to be hanging out with their parents and they all teased each other in a fun, loving way. 

Although all of the crazies around us were entertaining, I couldn't help but want to pull those two boys aside and say, "You know everything you've been watching these people do? Promise me you will do the exact opposite. Always." 

Things We Learned:

1. The Gorge needs help with their sound system.

2. I love nature. Well, the kind of nature I can enjoy while sitting on a blanket in a sundress, reading USWeekly. Let's not get carried away.

3. I'm a slightly creepy people watcher.

Just so you know...

...I punched Debbie Downer in the face for writing that last post.

I mean, I see that her intentions were good, with all that talk about how even if things don't go as planned good can still come out of it, blah, blah, blah. But did we really need a list of complaints and a pity party first? Probably not.

I'll do my best to keep DD in line. Sometimes she sneaks up on me when I least expect it.

Supposed To

Yesterday I set off on a quick weekend trip. The agenda was to hit Sandpoint, Idaho for a concert, stay in Spokane for the night and head back to Seattle sometime today.

Well, a lot of things were supposed to happen. But plans change.

I was supposed to leave on Thursday night with three friends. 

But I needed to be in town Thursday night so I decided to separate from the pack and head out on Friday.

I was supposed to leave on Friday morning with one friend. 

My designated buddy for the weekend decided he couldn't make it. And then my replacement buddy realized she she couldn't make it either.

I was supposed to leave Friday morning at 9:00 am alone. 

But I overslept [shocker].

And then I realized I had a work project to finish up.

And then I remembered that I actually needed to pack.

And then I discovered that I needed gas.

And then I was told that I-90 was closed for Sea Fair.

I didn't get on the road until 12:30pm.

I was supposed to meet up with L&P in Spokane before the show.

But I got detained getting onto I-90 from 405 [see previously mentioned Sea Fair issue].

I was also detained at the McDonald's in North Bend where I stopped to use the bathroom. My real mistake was when I decided that since I was already there I would get food. Well, no other customer but me spoke English [I'm not exaggerating. The cashier was asking if anyone could translate.] so it took at least 25 minutes to get one burger. However, I did find out that the location is in the Top Ten Busiest McDonald's in the country.

The sky turned blue as I was driving through the pass and I thought all was well, but then I hit inexplicable traffic. I went 63 miles in two hours.

I realized that things were not going as planned and that I would just have to make the drive to Idaho alone and meet L&P there.

I was supposed to make it to Sandpoint by 7:00pm (after the aforementioned delays).

But after passing through Spokane and seeing a sign for "Coeur d'Alene 14 miles", traffic came to a dead stop. It was a literal parking lot and once I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to move, I put the car in park, rolled down my windows, shut off the engine and caught up on the internet.

I was supposed to love the show.

But I just didn't.

I felt disconnected from the experience, almost as if I was watching something on TV.

My heart just wasn't in it.

I was supposed to head back to Seattle early Saturday afternoon.

But my attempt at a 30 minute nap turned into a 2 hour and 30 minute nap and my schedule was thrown off.

And so here I am. 

Saturday night in Spokane. 

Alone.

Thinking about how we can make plans in our minds for how things are supposed to go, but sometimes things just don't go according to plan. 

But that's okay.

Although it did not go as planned, this weekend afforded me the opportunity to:

escape Seattle, see beautiful scenery, sing at the top of my lungs, have a dance party in the car, take time to be alone and to think, see a beautiful sunset, smell the outdoors and be taken back to some childhood memories, arrive to the show exactly on time, clap, sing with a crowd of people, drive with the windows down and feel the cool night air, look up at the stars through the sun roof, sleep in, take a 2.5 hour nap, eat dinner on the deck, read a book, go to bed before midnight.

So...success.

This post was supposed to be a photo journal of random iPhone photos taken of the trip to this point. But in keeping with the theme, things didn't go as planned and lots of words just came out. Lots. Here are the photos anyway.

The part where I expressed gratitude for green things on this planet.

Right here I fell in love with Washington all over again. 

This was soon after the expression of gratitude noted above.

Not only was a grateful to be moving again after two hours of stop and go traffic, but I can't help loving nature when there is water involved. 

[I have a love/hate relationship with water.]

These windmills are still creepy.
My windshield is still dirty.

Bridges. I still just love them. I think this is near The Gorge.

Still near The Gorge.

Lovely sunset driving over Priest Lake into Sandpoint.

The show. Outdoors. Right on the water.

A little post-nap, pre-dinner reading on the deck.

I can't wait to see how tomorrow deviates from my plan. Let's just hope it doesn't deviate from the part of the plan where my car is supposed to make it back across the state without dying. Anything but that.

Know Your Audience

Since I'm posting about creepy things lately...

Last week at work I came back from a meeting to find a package on my desk. Getting sent gifts is not unusual and it's always fun to see what random stuff publishers are sending.

When I opened the box I found this:

A BYU hat. From someone I had never met.

To make a point about "knowing your audience" [and how their targeting capabilities would allow me to target my client's ads more effectively] they found out where each media planner went to school and sent each planner a hat with the logo on it.

Clever? Possibly.
Creepy? Definitely.

LinkedIn profiles are good for something, I guess.

I moved desks last night at work. This is my fifth desk since I started here just over two years ago. If I were tall enough to see over the top of my wall, I could say that I have a view of the water. Since I can't, we'll just say that I have a view of the sky.

Perfect in Summer. Depressing in Winter.

I decided to "decorate" this space asap, as opposed to one month before moving like all the other times. This so-called decorating included putting up the pictures I've had sitting around my desk for the last two years.
[note to self: print and bring in new photos.]

Just now, as I was zoned out while thinking about how to approach this next project, I realized I was staring at this photo.

More specifically I was staring at the CREEPY CLOWN HANGING FROM THE CEILING IN THE BACKGROUND. I'd never noticed it in this photo before and now it's all I can look at.

It's crocheted (you know, needlework) and it's sitting in a very large metal ring.

No one can explain why he has it there. My mom has tried to take it down when she cleans his house, but when she comes back the next time, the clown is back.

Moral of the story: Clowns are creepy. I wish I'd never noticed.

Time is going by really, really, really, really slow.

We were sharing funny YouTube videos at work today (What? Can't we have fun sometimes?) and I remembered this one.

Shamed by Automated Emails

This morning I got an email from my gym with the subject line: How many gym visits do you have so far?

Now, part of me just wanted to check the box and delete the message like I do to all other junk mail, but another part of me was curious.

So I clicked on it.

And I found out that in the three months I've had this particular gym membership, I've been to the gym a shockingly few number of times. Not only was it a shockingly few number of times in total, but they went even further to break it down on a per month basis. Thanks for that. The email continued on, asking how this compared to my goal and if I was exceeding it or not quite hitting it, blah, blah, blah.

Shaming me, basically. They wanted to shame me into coming back to the gym. They might as well have sent me an email that said, "Based on the number of times you've come in, you're clearly still chubby and I'm not quite sure you've grasped the purpose of this membership."

Well, it worked. Kind of. Tonight I ran around Green Lake (Can we really call it running though? Not really.) and tomorrow I'm heading to the gym to get back on the Zumba train.

Don't worry, if I fall of the wagon again I can always count on an automated email system to shame me into getting back on track.