This weekend, I ventured up to Central Park and enjoyed the winter wonderland.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Beautiful Snowfall
NYC got over a foot of snow last week between Thursday and Friday. While I am getting a little tired of winter and look forward to seeing more of the sun in Spring, I am still enthralled with the snow. It's beautiful.
This weekend, I ventured up to Central Park and enjoyed the winter wonderland.
This weekend, I ventured up to Central Park and enjoyed the winter wonderland.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
One More Time?
Why do we revisit or reconsider relationships from our past? I think sometimes the good memories stay with you more than the bad. And sometimes, especially during times of loneliness, you wonder if there is something worth salvaging. Or maybe it was the right person but the timing just wasn't right. Perhaps you didn't give the relationship a fair shot the first time around. And for me, I worry that I may throw in the towel too easily, run when things get tough, so I try again to make sure I'm not just avoiding conflict.
But I also tend to put more stock in my mind than my emotions. I trust thinking more than feeling. I understand (in theory) the importance of paying attention to those gut reactions, but I generally overthink things, rationalizing and reasoning away those pesky feelings.
I have another single friend (male) who told me you know, deep inside yourself, when something is right or not. I argued (of course), but what if I really don't know?
Or maybe it's just hard to shut the door on a relationship because in some way, it feels like admitting failure. Another one bites the dust. And it's always difficult to say goodbye.
But I also tend to put more stock in my mind than my emotions. I trust thinking more than feeling. I understand (in theory) the importance of paying attention to those gut reactions, but I generally overthink things, rationalizing and reasoning away those pesky feelings.
I have another single friend (male) who told me you know, deep inside yourself, when something is right or not. I argued (of course), but what if I really don't know?
Or maybe it's just hard to shut the door on a relationship because in some way, it feels like admitting failure. Another one bites the dust. And it's always difficult to say goodbye.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Order Up
Perhaps I watch too much TV. I have my favorite sitcoms, dramas and news shows, and at least I use my DVR and fast-forward through the commercials.
Tonight I was catching up on Brothers & Sisters. The divorced sister Sarah is the character I currently identify with. In the most recent episode, she had a brief monologue where she's describing her relationship falterings, stating she's successful in many areas of her life, like business, but just has this one area of her life that she can't make work. In another scene, she's talking to her school-aged daughter about Valentine's and tells her it's not always the guy who makes you blush and not able to put a coherent sentence together that's the best for you -- at the time she's dating a nice guy that she doesn't feel passion for. But as TV usually does, she ends up at the end of the hour broken up from the boring, nice guy and back together with her passionate French ex-boyfriend.
I want the butterflies and blushing and stammering. I've tried settling, and I don't think it's worth it. Of course, there's more to it than attraction and passion, but I do believe those are important ingredients.
I had lunch with a recently married colleague of mine this week, and she described her nearly one-year marriage (second one for her) as feeling comfortably settled. She said it's such a comforting, wonderful feeling. I want settled, but without settling.
And since I've heard and read that you need to state what you want, I want a guy that adores me, the challenges me to be my best, that makes me laugh even when I want to shout or cry, someone who is loyal, intelligent, and deserving of my respect and admiration, someone who will appreciate all I have to give. And Universe? Tall, dark and handsome is great, too. Thanks.
Tonight I was catching up on Brothers & Sisters. The divorced sister Sarah is the character I currently identify with. In the most recent episode, she had a brief monologue where she's describing her relationship falterings, stating she's successful in many areas of her life, like business, but just has this one area of her life that she can't make work. In another scene, she's talking to her school-aged daughter about Valentine's and tells her it's not always the guy who makes you blush and not able to put a coherent sentence together that's the best for you -- at the time she's dating a nice guy that she doesn't feel passion for. But as TV usually does, she ends up at the end of the hour broken up from the boring, nice guy and back together with her passionate French ex-boyfriend.
I want the butterflies and blushing and stammering. I've tried settling, and I don't think it's worth it. Of course, there's more to it than attraction and passion, but I do believe those are important ingredients.
I had lunch with a recently married colleague of mine this week, and she described her nearly one-year marriage (second one for her) as feeling comfortably settled. She said it's such a comforting, wonderful feeling. I want settled, but without settling.
And since I've heard and read that you need to state what you want, I want a guy that adores me, the challenges me to be my best, that makes me laugh even when I want to shout or cry, someone who is loyal, intelligent, and deserving of my respect and admiration, someone who will appreciate all I have to give. And Universe? Tall, dark and handsome is great, too. Thanks.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Jury Duty Bonus
I got called for jury duty this week. While it is a chore, I realize it's also truly a U.S. citizen's civic duty and an opportunity to be a part of our judicial system.
It was an all-day affair, and I almost got selected. I was hoping I wouldn't, because the judge said the trial would be 6 working days. But I did get to sit in the jury box and got asked questions, along with the other potential jurors, from the judge, the assistant district attorney, and the defense attorney.
When at the end of the day, several of us were excused, many of us were breathing a sigh of relief. I walked out with a couple others, and one guy asked if anyone wanted to grab a drink. I thought, why not? (and he's cute)
As we walked to a bar a few blocks away, he did the Southern gentleman thing of walking on the sidewalk closer to the street. As we took turns and crossed streets, he would politely maneuver me to the "safer" side of the sidewalk. I commented on it, and he explained he grew up in Washington, D.C. and was raised to follow the Southern ways. He moved to NYC a few years ago because he loved the city and was working successfully at that time as a massage therapist. With the recession, he lost a significant number of his clients, so he fell back on his accounting and finance degree and got a good job in the transportation industry. But he said he still also does massage therapy. (Bonus!)
We had a quick drink because he was due to meet some friends, and I was going to church for the Ash Wednesday service. But I learned he's got one older sister, owns his apartment in the city, and he's a Capricorn. We exchanged numbers, and I've gotten a couple text messages from him already.
It was an all-day affair, and I almost got selected. I was hoping I wouldn't, because the judge said the trial would be 6 working days. But I did get to sit in the jury box and got asked questions, along with the other potential jurors, from the judge, the assistant district attorney, and the defense attorney.
When at the end of the day, several of us were excused, many of us were breathing a sigh of relief. I walked out with a couple others, and one guy asked if anyone wanted to grab a drink. I thought, why not? (and he's cute)
As we walked to a bar a few blocks away, he did the Southern gentleman thing of walking on the sidewalk closer to the street. As we took turns and crossed streets, he would politely maneuver me to the "safer" side of the sidewalk. I commented on it, and he explained he grew up in Washington, D.C. and was raised to follow the Southern ways. He moved to NYC a few years ago because he loved the city and was working successfully at that time as a massage therapist. With the recession, he lost a significant number of his clients, so he fell back on his accounting and finance degree and got a good job in the transportation industry. But he said he still also does massage therapy. (Bonus!)
We had a quick drink because he was due to meet some friends, and I was going to church for the Ash Wednesday service. But I learned he's got one older sister, owns his apartment in the city, and he's a Capricorn. We exchanged numbers, and I've gotten a couple text messages from him already.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ski Trip
I can't remember the last time I went skiing, but I've held on to all my gear. So I was thrilled to be invited by one of my vendors to a big lodge in Vermont for the weekend. Food, alcohol, ski equipment, lift tickets and bus travel to and from the city were included, so I couldn't say no!
There were somewhere between 25-30 people at this lodge house, only a few of whom I knew prior to the weekend, but the house was amazing. There were so many bedrooms and bathrooms, I had a room and bathroom to myself! The place had a pool and jacuzzi (which I indulged in every evening), a ping pong table, and a pool table. There was more food and drink than we could possibly go through, and dinners each night were a group affair of preparation and enjoyment.
The first night, I didn't want to overdo it and stayed fairly conservative though the party was full-on. But I was anticipating the next day of skiing and determined one quiet guy was in a like mindset. We agreed to meet the next morning and head out early as everyone had planned. Come Friday morning, we were the only two ready to go at 8:45, so we headed up before the rest. (We heard later the rest made it to the mountain around 11:45.) We skied all day together and were pretty well-matched. We started on green trails (the easiest) and then did blues (moderately difficult) for the rest of the day, meeting up with everyone at lunch and again at the end of the day. Quiet Guy was a little better than me, and I would watch him ski ahead of me (much faster than I felt comfortable going) although he would stop and wait for me periodically. Towards the end of the day, we shared a lift ride with an older guy (maybe 60) who was a regular and very chatty. After exchanging names, he commented about us, "Ah, young lovers." We both cracked up laughing and I explained we had only just met the day before. He said, "Well, sometimes that's all it takes," and I further explained that Quiet Guy is married and we were just friends. But this guy showed us some trails we hadn't previously taken and we skied with him until the end of the day. I only begged off of the last trail.
That night, there was another rip-roaring party at the house, but I was so tired, I turned in around 10:00. However, they were living it up so loudly, I eventually put in my headphones and listened to some quiet music to drown them out and get some sleep.
Saturday morning, Quiet Guy and I were up again early. Again, we were the first and only ones out the door at 8:30. When we took our first run, I could tell my legs were tired from the day before, and my right leg kept cramping up. We stopped after awhile for some Gatorade and a banana and that helped. But I still wasn't keeping up as much as I had the day before. I was hurting, and I felt bad that I was holding Quiet Guy back. I pushed myself all through the first day and half of the second to keep up -- we even did a couple black (most difficult) trails -- but I was hurting. When we met the rest of the crew at lunch, I told Quiet Guy to go out with some of the other more advanced skiers. Unfortunately, we just missed them at the rendezvous point (although we were on-time), so he went off by himself. I went out with another group, but I still was feeling pretty weak. I did a few more trails with them and headed back to the main lodge to warm up. Still, I skied for 6 hours the first day and 5 hours the second.
That night was our last night, so the party was non-stop! There was food, games, music, dancing, Olympics in the background...it was awesome. I stumbled up to my room a little after midnight, and I was still one of the first to turn in. I just couldn't party that hard after skiing so hard.
Sunday, we rode back to the city in the bus. It was a quiet bus, with most of us napping for the first half of the four-hour drive back. And thankfully, I had today off because my legs are KILLING me. I know I WAY overdid it, and today I've just rested, alternating ice and heat, stretching and loading up on protein and ibuprofen.
There were somewhere between 25-30 people at this lodge house, only a few of whom I knew prior to the weekend, but the house was amazing. There were so many bedrooms and bathrooms, I had a room and bathroom to myself! The place had a pool and jacuzzi (which I indulged in every evening), a ping pong table, and a pool table. There was more food and drink than we could possibly go through, and dinners each night were a group affair of preparation and enjoyment.
The first night, I didn't want to overdo it and stayed fairly conservative though the party was full-on. But I was anticipating the next day of skiing and determined one quiet guy was in a like mindset. We agreed to meet the next morning and head out early as everyone had planned. Come Friday morning, we were the only two ready to go at 8:45, so we headed up before the rest. (We heard later the rest made it to the mountain around 11:45.) We skied all day together and were pretty well-matched. We started on green trails (the easiest) and then did blues (moderately difficult) for the rest of the day, meeting up with everyone at lunch and again at the end of the day. Quiet Guy was a little better than me, and I would watch him ski ahead of me (much faster than I felt comfortable going) although he would stop and wait for me periodically. Towards the end of the day, we shared a lift ride with an older guy (maybe 60) who was a regular and very chatty. After exchanging names, he commented about us, "Ah, young lovers." We both cracked up laughing and I explained we had only just met the day before. He said, "Well, sometimes that's all it takes," and I further explained that Quiet Guy is married and we were just friends. But this guy showed us some trails we hadn't previously taken and we skied with him until the end of the day. I only begged off of the last trail.
That night, there was another rip-roaring party at the house, but I was so tired, I turned in around 10:00. However, they were living it up so loudly, I eventually put in my headphones and listened to some quiet music to drown them out and get some sleep.
Saturday morning, Quiet Guy and I were up again early. Again, we were the first and only ones out the door at 8:30. When we took our first run, I could tell my legs were tired from the day before, and my right leg kept cramping up. We stopped after awhile for some Gatorade and a banana and that helped. But I still wasn't keeping up as much as I had the day before. I was hurting, and I felt bad that I was holding Quiet Guy back. I pushed myself all through the first day and half of the second to keep up -- we even did a couple black (most difficult) trails -- but I was hurting. When we met the rest of the crew at lunch, I told Quiet Guy to go out with some of the other more advanced skiers. Unfortunately, we just missed them at the rendezvous point (although we were on-time), so he went off by himself. I went out with another group, but I still was feeling pretty weak. I did a few more trails with them and headed back to the main lodge to warm up. Still, I skied for 6 hours the first day and 5 hours the second.
That night was our last night, so the party was non-stop! There was food, games, music, dancing, Olympics in the background...it was awesome. I stumbled up to my room a little after midnight, and I was still one of the first to turn in. I just couldn't party that hard after skiing so hard.
Sunday, we rode back to the city in the bus. It was a quiet bus, with most of us napping for the first half of the four-hour drive back. And thankfully, I had today off because my legs are KILLING me. I know I WAY overdid it, and today I've just rested, alternating ice and heat, stretching and loading up on protein and ibuprofen.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Church Lady?
From my first month here in NYC, I've been going to the same church, John Street United Methodist. It's the oldest UMC in the U.S. with its beginnings in 1766. The current church building is actually the third, built in 1841. It is dwarfed by the mammoths on either side, but has a quaint appearance.
Before I officially joined the church, I made inquiries that led to the formation of the choir. Our 8-9 amateur choir made some beautiful music, and with our choir director/organist's passing in November, I have missed singing and joking around with the group.
Several of the choir members cajoled (harassed?) me to try Bible study on Monday nights. The key deciding factor for me was the home-cooked meals, featuring entrees by our NY Italian original Anna. The food is fantastic, but I have learned more about the Bible and again have treasured the fellowship of the small group.
And after our choir director/organist's death, our pastor asked me to join the committee that, among other things, will help select the new organist/music director. It's something very dear to me, so I didn't hesitate to say yes.
And then,...the ladies I'd gotten to know through choir and Bible study twisted my arm to join the United Methodist women. They dragged me along to their lunch outing (we do a lot of eating), and gave me a copy of the book that was a gift for each one. I'm definitely the youngest -- I think there's one woman in her 40's and the rest are in their 50's, 60's and 70+ -- but they are sweet and funny. And then one of them made a comment that we were "Church Ladies" and should wear hats. It was a joke, but all I could see in my mind was Dana Carvey's Church Lady from SNL:
I'm not going to start wearing a hat, but I've come to really appreciate this community I've found and become a part of. And it keeps me out of trouble. Well...most of the time. ;-)
Before I officially joined the church, I made inquiries that led to the formation of the choir. Our 8-9 amateur choir made some beautiful music, and with our choir director/organist's passing in November, I have missed singing and joking around with the group.
Several of the choir members cajoled (harassed?) me to try Bible study on Monday nights. The key deciding factor for me was the home-cooked meals, featuring entrees by our NY Italian original Anna. The food is fantastic, but I have learned more about the Bible and again have treasured the fellowship of the small group.
And after our choir director/organist's death, our pastor asked me to join the committee that, among other things, will help select the new organist/music director. It's something very dear to me, so I didn't hesitate to say yes.
And then,...the ladies I'd gotten to know through choir and Bible study twisted my arm to join the United Methodist women. They dragged me along to their lunch outing (we do a lot of eating), and gave me a copy of the book that was a gift for each one. I'm definitely the youngest -- I think there's one woman in her 40's and the rest are in their 50's, 60's and 70+ -- but they are sweet and funny. And then one of them made a comment that we were "Church Ladies" and should wear hats. It was a joke, but all I could see in my mind was Dana Carvey's Church Lady from SNL:
I'm not going to start wearing a hat, but I've come to really appreciate this community I've found and become a part of. And it keeps me out of trouble. Well...most of the time. ;-)
Sunday, February 07, 2010
What's in a Number?
Is age just a number, or is it more indicative of experience and maturity? Perhaps it depends on the individual. I have generally dated men who are older than me, but I did date a younger guy for a short time before I left Dallas. In general, though, I don't go for younger guys. But it is nice to hear compliments from a man, younger or not. My ego was boosted by some compliments from a younger guy this weekend. It's nice to hear I've still got it. ;-)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Poor Kitty
My cat Sabrina had dental surgery today. Her first dental cleaning by my sister, Dr. Jenn, was done about four years ago. At that time, Jenn found she had some decaying teeth and had to remove three. At Sabrina's recent check-up, they saw some irritation in her gums and tartar on her teeth and suggested another cleaning. Sure enough, the x-rays detected additional teeth that needed to come out. Poor girl had three teeth removed today, as well as a small mole-like spot removed from her head. She seems to be happy now that she's home, and I have pain meds to give her for the next couple days while she heals.
It's so hard to watch her go through this, but I know it's for the best and will hopefully keep her healthy and here with me longer. I took a video when I got her home tonight to share with Dr. Jenn and the family. Her purr is very loud, due to her scratchy throat from the trachea tube for breathing while she was under anesthesia.
It's so hard to watch her go through this, but I know it's for the best and will hopefully keep her healthy and here with me longer. I took a video when I got her home tonight to share with Dr. Jenn and the family. Her purr is very loud, due to her scratchy throat from the trachea tube for breathing while she was under anesthesia.
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