Things I actually crossed off my list last night:
grocery shop (it wasn't that horrible)
wax my armpits (legs schmegs)
get a decent night's sleep
Not bad, not bad. Chris has been home sick the past two days, which sucks for him, but really helps me with that whole "decent night's sleep" thing. We carpool to work (of course, since we work at the same place) and he is usually driving me out of bed between 6:45am and 7am so that we can leave the house by 7:30am. But when he doesn't have to go in? I get to sleep in!!! I got up at a decadent 8:15am today! Mmmmm. But I also had to pack my own breakfast and lunch (horrors!) so I'm ready for him to be well again.
Speaking of work, I thought this week was going to be a super-stressful one, but instead it has turned out to be quite relaxing! I have crossed things off my to-do list that have been there for weeks. It is a good feeling. I love it when that happens.
It Happens Every Year
So I've hit that point in the summer where I just can't get my shit together. I am having too much fun, and the order in my life suffers. It wouldn't be big deal except that it is annoying to wake up and realize that you have NOTHING to eat for lunch, so you have to buy lunch. Does that happen to other people? Things I need to do tonight include:
menu plan (hates) and grocery shop (hates even more)
wax my armpits and legs (sorry if that was TMI)
paint my toenails
get a decent night's sleep
So speaking of food, I have googled "Why is gluten evil" repeatedly, to no avail. Someone please enlighten me, why is everyone giving up gluten?
OMG, Could You Die
From the cuteness?
I have a pair of denim capris that Chris just referred to as "your short jeans".
Random Ami Trivia
I love the way vinegar tastes. I used to drink it from the bottle when I was a kid.
Sushi and Indian are my favorite foods; Mexican and Chinese are my least favorite foods.
If I hadn't gotten a degree in Computer Science, I would have liked to get one in Anthropology. I didn't though, because PhD? Fuck that shit. And what do you do with a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology? I made it my minor instead.
I play the saxophone. Scratch that, I CAN play the saxophone. I don't actually do it on any kind of regular basis.
I had a class with Ashton Kutcher in college. It was a huge lecture, though, so it's not like I met him or anything.
I love mowing the lawn. Chris has mowed it once in the three years that we have lived in our house because I like to do it so much.
I dislike white wine and dark beer, but I will drink either if there is nothing else available.
I once had a hamster named Hero.
I think moving is great fun, and I would do it every 2 years if I could.
So Very Tired
I am so, so tired. I had to be at work at 7:15am this morning. I got home around 5pm, ran 4 miles, then rode my bike to my Community Council meeting. I just home and am ready to CRASH.
Tomorrow night I have a wine tasting to attend, and if the last one is any indication I will be in NO SHAPE to do much of anything on Saturday. I would like to lift weights on Saturday, but other than that I have nothing to do until 6pm, when we are going to the Melting Pot with Mel and Jeff. YAY! I love that place, and we rarely go there. It will be fun to do it with them.
On Sunday, our friend Monica and her bad ass band will be playing at the Avalon Theater. By Sunday I will need a day free from drinking (the venue is alcohol-free). I am very excited, it will be a nice way to wind down the weekend.
This whole "being in town" thing is quite the concept.
Anti-Climactic
It's the long-awaited (read: not-awaited at all) post about how my URL came to be. I’ve been meaning to post this for a long time, because I think people think I’m an anti-feminist freak. But really it is just a stupid college story...
I had a class one summer in college that was small (maybe 8 students)and partly graded on in-class participation. Being a science/math nerd I hated classes like that. Participation? Discussion? Questions to which there was no right or wrong answer? What the hell? It didn’t help that it was summer, I was not very motivated, and I rarely did the reading before class.
So one day I was explaining my strategy for dealing with this class to my friend Jo. I told her that I always just tried to answer the first question the professor asked, because it was usually the easiest. But most of the time instead of replying with a coherent answer I would just ramble and go off-topic because I didn't know anything ABOUT the damn topic and I would be met with stunned silence.
So Jo, instead of reassuring me that I probably didn’t sound stupid, just said “And you know everyone is thinking ‘Oh, great. The dumb chick is talking again.’” The phrase "dumb chick" stuck in my vernacular, as a way to describe yourself or anyone else who is actually not dumb, but doing something or sounding dumb. Which, if we're honest, is probably a lot of the time, right? Right? Please tell me it isn't just me.
Right, so the race! I did it, and it was totally fun. I rarely run anywhere that has hills, and I think I need to start. I finished three and a half minutes slower than my best time in practice, and I think that is because the park at which I run is flat flat flat. So I'm adding some hills to my "training" and we'll see how it goes. I am addicted now, I think. I really had a great time. This drunken camera-loser has no pictures, but Jessica took some, and when she sends them to me I will post one. Maybe. I don't want you all to get insanely jealous of my awesome running top that my hottie husband bought for me.
Speaking of pictures, that picture of me? In the sidebar? Not representative of what I look like in real life AT ALL. I think I have worn pearls once in my life. But! It was the only picture that I could get to a)show up and b)not be 500000 x 500000 pixels large. So there you go. I will call it "Dumbchick as Grandma". I'm working on changing it.
Race Day!
Tomorrow I'm running a 5K! I've never done it before; I'm surprisingly nervous. That began when I got my race bib in the mail. I would take a picture of it and show it to you, but... I drunkenly lost my camera in Las Vegas. I like to think of myself more as "well-rounded" and less as "all over the place". Get drunk this weekend, run a race that weekend, whatev. All work, no play, yada yada.
So I have to get up early, as early as I would for work, and that seems like a total rip off of a Saturday. My friend Jessica is meeting me at the race (she is running, too) and we will probably go to the farmer's market afterwards.
My parents are coming to town sometime tomorrow (they are on a road trip, so they don't exactly when they will be here) and will stay until Monday morning. We will take my dad out for father's day, and catch up, and drink wine.
Then next week is a "long week" at work, ie, no Friday off. I think I might die. I haven't worked a full week in god knows how long. Wish me luck.
Las Vegas in Bullets
Since I have no pictures from Vegas, I will have to regale you with my memories one word at a time. Lucky you. You guys will be taking up a collection to buy me a new camera in no time.
I present to you, Things I Learned On This Trip, day to day edition:
Friday: Las Vegas keeps getting farther and farther away from Salt Lake City. Continental drift or something. I swear I remember when it was a 4 hour drive. Somewhere along the way it became a 6 hour drive.
99 cent margaritas seem like a good idea at time. They are not. 99 cent tequila shots seem like an even better idea, and are in fact, an even worse idea.
Just because you are surrounded by college friends does not mean you can drink like you did when you were in college.
Mirrors above your bed are not as great as you might have thought.
Saturday:Encourage your husband to bet on horses. Otherwise, the horse he picks will win but you will not reap the $760 you would have be entitled to if he would have bet a measly $20 on his horse.
A high concentration of Indian people in an Indian restaurant is a good sign.
When a man tells you to go ahead, feel his hair extensions, do not do it. It will be gross. He will also assume that this then gives him license to touch your cheek while he tells you how much he loves your dimples. Shudder.
Sunday:
No matter how good your intentions of exercising on vacation are, it will not happen.
Your husband can drink two giant plastic footballs full of long island iced tea and be FINE.
The pirate show at Treasure Island is all kinds of awesomeness. Practically soft core porn, though laudable for attempting to have a plot.
Monday:
"Bodies: The Exhibition" is made better when you see it with a friend who is a doctor. Also, seeing a penis that is cut in half is WEIRD.
When you ask a temporary tattoo artist for a tattoo of an ear of corn, she will demand an explanation before tattooing you.
Gin martinis are only your friend for the first 2. That third one is not a good idea. Also, a couple of hours and a couple of beers is not enough time between the third martini and a tequila shot.
Tuesday:
Being hungover sucks. But impulse buying cowboy boots helps.
Las Vegas can drift another hour away from Salt Lake City in 5 short days.
We Are Back From Vegas
And I'm exhausted. Vacationing is so tiring. We got home around 2am last night, and I am going to work part of the day today while Chris stays home and studies. We had a great time. I would regale you with pictures but Las Vegas ate our camera. Okay, fine, I got drunk and lost it. Which makes the second time Chris and I have lost a camera in Nevada. I don't know what the hell is up with that.
Speaking of pictures, blogger eats dick and my sidebar pic is gone now because I tried to change it unsuccessfully. (My apologies to those of you who got a giant picture of my face in your google reader.) When I tried to put the old pic back up it was enormous, too, and I gave up because life is too short. I also need to put my archives up back to 2003 FOR POSTERITY (god, don't you just wanna slap me?) but I can't be bothered. Post-vacation attitude, what can you do?
What's That Email Again?
Back when my sister and I were both young and unattached and loved to party (well that part will never end) we used to fly back and forth between Salt Lake City and Phoenix more frequently. We called the Southwest Airlines flight between SLC and PHX "The Big Bus". Southwest Airlines always had the cheapest last minute flights between SLC and PHX. But when we booked in advance (RARELY) sometimes another airline would have the best deal.
One Thanksgiving I had booked a flight to Phoenix well in advance, and I couldn't remember what fucking airline I had booked it on. So I was forced to call all of the usual suspects and ask them if they could look me up by email address and tell me if I had a flight booked with them. And of course they needed to know my email, which was mail@DUMBCHICK.com. Priceless. Aaaaaaaaaand appropriate.
Sometime I will post about how the name "dumbchick" came to be, because I don't think I have before. Or have I?
I Need A Blog-Safe Nickname For This Guy
My "running coach" friend at work is awesome. He is a great runner and he has been helping me with my training. Not only does he make the time to do it but he is super encouraging and never condescending even though my quarter-mile speed work pace is slower than his marathon pace, for the love of god. I will stop there because I'm afraid that he will find my website and be like "Ooooooookay, STALKER!"
What is prompting this little lovefest for the running coach is that tonight I ran a mile in 10:21. TEN TWENTY-ONE. I remember when I couldn't run a 12 minute mile. Hell, I remember when I couldn't run a whole mile without stopping to walk. It wasn't that long ago. I would have laughed then if you had told me that I would ever come close to being able to run a 10 minute mile. I feel so good tonight.
I have a tendency to let my self-esteem ride on unhealthy things, and things that are out of my control. I have been working for the past few years on drawing it from healthier places, and it feels so great to get closer and closer to a goal, something that I wouldn't have thought possible, much less enjoyable.
Speaking of unhealthy things, I leave on Friday for Las Vegas, baby. We are meeting some friends of mine from college there, and I am so excited! We'll be gone until Wednesday, and unless the magic combination of us having internet there and me being sober for 5 minutes happens, I probably won't post while I'm gone. (HINT: Don't count on it.) Please pray for Chris that I don't gamble away our life savings or sleep with a hooker.
