Possible impending weather? Blah. Earth movements where they don't typically happen? Blah. Health? Yeah, but blah. Family updates and pics and news and whatnot? Blah.
Somedays even the MOST upbeat, the most positive, the most "sunny side" people you'd ever wanna meet (even to tell them to stop it) just have a random "blah" day.
Today is my day, I guess.
Blah.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
It's A Gift
I've shared here before that I am a horrible gift-giver, except not in the traditional way. I find these great little somethings, at all ends of the cost spectrum, and if the gift and the recipient are a particularly good fit, I nearly ALWAYS feel compelled to give the gift well before the intended day.
And you can turn up my anticipation knob to 11 when the gift recipient is The Awesome Boyfriend.
Now lots of people insist that their significant other is also their very best friend. I've just always been the kind of person that has lots of close friends - folks from different areas of my life (work, family, school, neighborhood, hobby) - who I could share with. But moving across the country took away a lot of those outlets for me ... so it is rather new to me that I have one very best friend, and he just happens to be the man I share my life with. I continue to be outright astonished with just how well we get along with each other (and it can't be easy for him, as I can be quite mercurial at times).
So anyway ... I've been looking for this thing ... this item ... for awhile now. Not quite a year but for a significant length of time. I thought I had it worked out at one point, but I was mistaken. Then I found an alternate solution but ... again, no dice. Well I was clicking around this morning on the computer and one site led to another (as often happens) and *blam* there it was. "Hey - looking for this?" the site asked.
I nodded slowly, dumbstruck at my luck.
"Well we're the source. Give us a call."
I dialed. The line rang once ... twice ... and then "hello?"
My voice trembling I asked if what I'd seen was accurate. "Yep, it's true." "May I ask the cost?" I said, wincing in anticipation of the probable response. A number was given. I pondered my options and within moments the deal was done.
I hung up the phone and ... frustration set in. I can't share my most excellent gift with my best friend ... yet. Which means I can't share it here, either ... yet.
But soon. Oh so very soon.
And you can turn up my anticipation knob to 11 when the gift recipient is The Awesome Boyfriend.
Now lots of people insist that their significant other is also their very best friend. I've just always been the kind of person that has lots of close friends - folks from different areas of my life (work, family, school, neighborhood, hobby) - who I could share with. But moving across the country took away a lot of those outlets for me ... so it is rather new to me that I have one very best friend, and he just happens to be the man I share my life with. I continue to be outright astonished with just how well we get along with each other (and it can't be easy for him, as I can be quite mercurial at times).
So anyway ... I've been looking for this thing ... this item ... for awhile now. Not quite a year but for a significant length of time. I thought I had it worked out at one point, but I was mistaken. Then I found an alternate solution but ... again, no dice. Well I was clicking around this morning on the computer and one site led to another (as often happens) and *blam* there it was. "Hey - looking for this?" the site asked.
I nodded slowly, dumbstruck at my luck.
"Well we're the source. Give us a call."
I dialed. The line rang once ... twice ... and then "hello?"
My voice trembling I asked if what I'd seen was accurate. "Yep, it's true." "May I ask the cost?" I said, wincing in anticipation of the probable response. A number was given. I pondered my options and within moments the deal was done.
I hung up the phone and ... frustration set in. I can't share my most excellent gift with my best friend ... yet. Which means I can't share it here, either ... yet.
But soon. Oh so very soon.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Weight A Second
For me, it all started with the microwave.
I remember the box sitting on the counter, the classes my mother took, the "recipes" (and I use that word that very hesitantly) in the instruction manual, the warnings about not standing too close or immediately open the door when the unit shut down ... and I remember the wonder of being able to cook - or, more accurately, heat - items in less than half the the time of traditional methods.
Instant rice. Instant oatmeal. Fax machines. Copier machines. Instant messaging. Text messaging. Flying across the entire country in a matter of hours. We are a people who enjoy a longer lifespan than our great-great relatives could have ever considered and yet we feel compelled to bitch about how long the red light takes to change or roll our eyes at how much time we waste waiting for our iced, short, triple breve shots, extra whip, half-caf, almond soy mocha ... with sprinkles. And fudge-drizzle sauce.
And - to me, at least - the second-worst offenders of this "gimme now" demand are the companies who sell instant fixes to non-instant problems ... the diet-pill/diet-shake manufacturers. The worst offenders? The ones at the top of that list? The people who buy their crap.
If you are overweight - and I am, for what I'd PREFER to look like - did your body change in a week? In three weeks? In six? No - of course not. Barring extreme circumstances and/or pregnancy, you slowly added a few ounces here and a few ounces there until you had to change the size of the pants you were buying. It took lots of months. Hell, it probably took years.
So why do people feel that they can buy a pill or a shake or - and this may be my favorite snake-oil ever - a fat-eliminating creme (*snork*) and, in less than a month, ta-dah there's your 24-year old body once again?!
Why? Because of instant rice, instant oatmeal, fax and copier machines, instant and text messaging, and the microwave. We want it all and we wanted it 4 minutes ago. It's what THIS generation has always had. It's not instant gratification ... it's more like instant expectation. I mean - who actually waits for the elevator doors to close on their own anymore? Why would you do that, since there's a button that will close the doors for you faster than the sensor would do so?
Well, to everyone who is starving themselves, putting themselves through surgeries, slurping down nasty-tasting crap and slathering on cellulite-reducing lotions, my advice is to slow down, take a deep breath, throw out your scales and calorie-counters and measuring cups, toss your secret cookie stash (yeah - you thought no one knew about that, didn't ya'?) and just give yourself a break. Yes, if you've decided to get your weight in check, you should do so but - just like you took the time to add pounds, give yourself permission to take time to loose them.
And whatever else you decide to do - for cryin' out loud - stop trying to find the instant fix to a non-instant problem. Close your mouth AND your wallet and just open your brain. Even if all you ever do is develop a morning routine of stretches or leave a table without clearing your plate or stop asking for dessert after every meal or take the stairs instead of the elevator ... it will be a step in the right direction. And from there, you can add another step and another. Because that's how it all started.
The solution really does need to come from YOU - not a pill, or creme or any of that oh-so-tempting crap that folks are so eager to have you believe. If the easy-solution that you may be considering worked forever for everyone who tried it, the entire weight loss market would have just that one option, right? Clearly there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to this issue. This will just be one of those things where you'll need patience and persistence, strength and conviction, determination and forgiveness, and if you set reachable goals for yourself ... well, just weight and see.
I remember the box sitting on the counter, the classes my mother took, the "recipes" (and I use that word that very hesitantly) in the instruction manual, the warnings about not standing too close or immediately open the door when the unit shut down ... and I remember the wonder of being able to cook - or, more accurately, heat - items in less than half the the time of traditional methods.
Instant rice. Instant oatmeal. Fax machines. Copier machines. Instant messaging. Text messaging. Flying across the entire country in a matter of hours. We are a people who enjoy a longer lifespan than our great-great relatives could have ever considered and yet we feel compelled to bitch about how long the red light takes to change or roll our eyes at how much time we waste waiting for our iced, short, triple breve shots, extra whip, half-caf, almond soy mocha ... with sprinkles. And fudge-drizzle sauce.
And - to me, at least - the second-worst offenders of this "gimme now" demand are the companies who sell instant fixes to non-instant problems ... the diet-pill/diet-shake manufacturers. The worst offenders? The ones at the top of that list? The people who buy their crap.
If you are overweight - and I am, for what I'd PREFER to look like - did your body change in a week? In three weeks? In six? No - of course not. Barring extreme circumstances and/or pregnancy, you slowly added a few ounces here and a few ounces there until you had to change the size of the pants you were buying. It took lots of months. Hell, it probably took years.
So why do people feel that they can buy a pill or a shake or - and this may be my favorite snake-oil ever - a fat-eliminating creme (*snork*) and, in less than a month, ta-dah there's your 24-year old body once again?!
Why? Because of instant rice, instant oatmeal, fax and copier machines, instant and text messaging, and the microwave. We want it all and we wanted it 4 minutes ago. It's what THIS generation has always had. It's not instant gratification ... it's more like instant expectation. I mean - who actually waits for the elevator doors to close on their own anymore? Why would you do that, since there's a button that will close the doors for you faster than the sensor would do so?
Well, to everyone who is starving themselves, putting themselves through surgeries, slurping down nasty-tasting crap and slathering on cellulite-reducing lotions, my advice is to slow down, take a deep breath, throw out your scales and calorie-counters and measuring cups, toss your secret cookie stash (yeah - you thought no one knew about that, didn't ya'?) and just give yourself a break. Yes, if you've decided to get your weight in check, you should do so but - just like you took the time to add pounds, give yourself permission to take time to loose them.
And whatever else you decide to do - for cryin' out loud - stop trying to find the instant fix to a non-instant problem. Close your mouth AND your wallet and just open your brain. Even if all you ever do is develop a morning routine of stretches or leave a table without clearing your plate or stop asking for dessert after every meal or take the stairs instead of the elevator ... it will be a step in the right direction. And from there, you can add another step and another. Because that's how it all started.
The solution really does need to come from YOU - not a pill, or creme or any of that oh-so-tempting crap that folks are so eager to have you believe. If the easy-solution that you may be considering worked forever for everyone who tried it, the entire weight loss market would have just that one option, right? Clearly there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to this issue. This will just be one of those things where you'll need patience and persistence, strength and conviction, determination and forgiveness, and if you set reachable goals for yourself ... well, just weight and see.
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