Today, I'm leaving on a plane for Paris. I got a temporary crown for my tooth, and the volcanic ash has cleared from the air. My friend Never Married and I are off to explore Paris, Amsterdam and London for the next weekend and a few days.
I'm SOOO excited and thrilled to be taking time off! I may or may not post to the blog. :-)
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Living a Nightmare
Have you ever had the nightmare about your teeth falling out? I've had it several times over the years. It's very distressing. Apparently, the dream interpreters say it symbolizes that you are anxious (that's true) and afraid you're going to lose something (my mind?).
Last night, after volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for the day on Staten Island, I was pretty tired and decided to just have a quiet night at home. I made myself a simple dinner with pasta and watched my Netflix. I treated myself with a few squares of dark chocolate for dessert, and as I bit down to savor the sweet richness, I heard a strange crunch. To my horror, half of one of my molars broke off. To be honest, I think it's one of the teeth I have a crown on, so it's probably actually half of a crown, but it's freaky and awful. I ran to the bathroom to look at it, and it's not pretty. I had to look at it several times last night because my mind is still having a difficult time processing it. I called my dentist and left a message with his service. He actually called me back himself. Since I'm not in terrible pain (just a little throbbing and sensitivity to cold), and since I'm travelling for work tonight and most of tomorrow, we agreed I'd come in Monday late afternoon.
It's really not too painful, but it's so creepy. But I guess it's not the worst nightmare to have come true. And at least it's only one tooth.
[I have several crowns -- due to cracking my teeth from clenching and grinding them. I've bitten through three night guards. Stress. Still working on reducing/managing that. I really don't think I come across as high-strung or Type A, but I internalize a lot. And my teeth are getting the brunt of it.]
Last night, after volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for the day on Staten Island, I was pretty tired and decided to just have a quiet night at home. I made myself a simple dinner with pasta and watched my Netflix. I treated myself with a few squares of dark chocolate for dessert, and as I bit down to savor the sweet richness, I heard a strange crunch. To my horror, half of one of my molars broke off. To be honest, I think it's one of the teeth I have a crown on, so it's probably actually half of a crown, but it's freaky and awful. I ran to the bathroom to look at it, and it's not pretty. I had to look at it several times last night because my mind is still having a difficult time processing it. I called my dentist and left a message with his service. He actually called me back himself. Since I'm not in terrible pain (just a little throbbing and sensitivity to cold), and since I'm travelling for work tonight and most of tomorrow, we agreed I'd come in Monday late afternoon.
It's really not too painful, but it's so creepy. But I guess it's not the worst nightmare to have come true. And at least it's only one tooth.
[I have several crowns -- due to cracking my teeth from clenching and grinding them. I've bitten through three night guards. Stress. Still working on reducing/managing that. I really don't think I come across as high-strung or Type A, but I internalize a lot. And my teeth are getting the brunt of it.]
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wanna be Friends?
Yes, my dating life is so boring (non-existent) at the moment, the best I can do is Facebook spam. (Or is it spam?)
After the last one, I was pleasantly surprised to at least look at this one. I got a "Friend Request" from this guy:
From what I can see before we're officially Facebook friends, he's single, lives in Dallas, claims to be 34 (although he doesn't look older than 25 to me), and went to the high school I graduated from and apparently graduated the same year as I did although I am older than 34. (Doogie Houser?) His favorite music is listed as Rock and Roll and Frank Sinatra, and his favorite books? "Anything by Nicholas Sparks." If that wasn't suspicious enough, his description says "challenging but 'rewarding' like me." Sounds like a description on a dating site for what you're looking for, not a profile description on yourself.
It would be nice if this wasn't spam, although Dallas isn't very convenient for me anymore. What do you think? Should I friend him?
After the last one, I was pleasantly surprised to at least look at this one. I got a "Friend Request" from this guy:
From what I can see before we're officially Facebook friends, he's single, lives in Dallas, claims to be 34 (although he doesn't look older than 25 to me), and went to the high school I graduated from and apparently graduated the same year as I did although I am older than 34. (Doogie Houser?) His favorite music is listed as Rock and Roll and Frank Sinatra, and his favorite books? "Anything by Nicholas Sparks." If that wasn't suspicious enough, his description says "challenging but 'rewarding' like me." Sounds like a description on a dating site for what you're looking for, not a profile description on yourself.
It would be nice if this wasn't spam, although Dallas isn't very convenient for me anymore. What do you think? Should I friend him?
Monday, April 12, 2010
Gimme a Break
Apparently, I've been overdoing it. Too much exercise (triathlon training), too strict on caloric intake, and too much work. My body is in stress overload, causing bouts of racing heartbeats, holding on to weight, and back muscle spasms. I know, it sounds so enticing you wish it was you, right?
I'm hard on myself. Maybe too hard. I push myself to do more, more, more, and I'm angry when my body doesn't respond the way I want it to. But it has been recommended to me that I try more relaxation techniques and cut back on the training. It's easier said than done. I feel guilty if I'm not doing something (running, biking or swimming) every day. The tri is less than two months away. This will be my fourth triathlon, and last year, I had my personal best time. I want to beat it, but if I can't do that, I want to at least match it. So this past weekend, I only did swimming. But I think I still did too much because my shoulders haven't stopped contracting, despite heat, stretching and massage.
It's difficult to turn off my perfectionist tendencies. I not only want to do it all, I want to do it WELL. My mind has been racing lately with everything I need to do, to the point where I get almost paralyzed, completely overwhelmed. I usually make lists and check things off one by one. But I also still need to work on saying "No." I'm not very good at that.
I'm really looking forward to my vacation. I'm travelling with my fellow singleton, Never Married (NM) to Paris, Amsterdam and London. I'm hoping to connect with other singleton bloggers in Paris and London and will be trying not to think of anyone in particular in Amsterdam. But mostly, it will be blissful to be away from my major stressors here and enjoying the beautiful spring in Europe. It can't come soon enough.
I'm hard on myself. Maybe too hard. I push myself to do more, more, more, and I'm angry when my body doesn't respond the way I want it to. But it has been recommended to me that I try more relaxation techniques and cut back on the training. It's easier said than done. I feel guilty if I'm not doing something (running, biking or swimming) every day. The tri is less than two months away. This will be my fourth triathlon, and last year, I had my personal best time. I want to beat it, but if I can't do that, I want to at least match it. So this past weekend, I only did swimming. But I think I still did too much because my shoulders haven't stopped contracting, despite heat, stretching and massage.
It's difficult to turn off my perfectionist tendencies. I not only want to do it all, I want to do it WELL. My mind has been racing lately with everything I need to do, to the point where I get almost paralyzed, completely overwhelmed. I usually make lists and check things off one by one. But I also still need to work on saying "No." I'm not very good at that.
I'm really looking forward to my vacation. I'm travelling with my fellow singleton, Never Married (NM) to Paris, Amsterdam and London. I'm hoping to connect with other singleton bloggers in Paris and London and will be trying not to think of anyone in particular in Amsterdam. But mostly, it will be blissful to be away from my major stressors here and enjoying the beautiful spring in Europe. It can't come soon enough.
Friday, April 09, 2010
My Latest Offer
I got the following message (with this punctuation and capitalization) through Facebook from a guy named "Church Victor:"
Hello dear your profile and pictures attract me to you,im an honest and easy going man who seek an honest and true date,im 39 and a devoted christian with an heart of gold,i await your resposnse to know if we can be entagled in the chemistry of love.
victor
Oh, and in case that wasn't appealing enough, his profile pic shows he's very rotund.
My response? BLOCK
Hello dear your profile and pictures attract me to you,im an honest and easy going man who seek an honest and true date,im 39 and a devoted christian with an heart of gold,i await your resposnse to know if we can be entagled in the chemistry of love.
victor
Oh, and in case that wasn't appealing enough, his profile pic shows he's very rotund.
My response? BLOCK
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
My Easter Weekend
[I started writing this two days ago but have gotten slammed lately with incredible amounts of work and unable to finish. I apologize for the un-timeliness.]
Friday night, I met up with my friend NM for dinner, and we were joined by my much-younger cousin who's a senior at West Point and one of his buddies. After dinner, three more much-younger guys joined us, and by the end, NM and I were really feeling the 16 year difference in our ages. It's hard for me to specify exactly what it was that left me feeling "old" about the conversation, but I was grateful to have camaraderie when NM turned to me as we left the bar/restaurant saying, "Wow, I feel OLD!"
On Saturday, I took advantage of the sunshine and rode my bike up to Central Park and back downtown. It's about 18 miles roundtrip. The weather looked beautiful, but it was actually a bit chilly, and although I wished I was wearing more than short-sleeves and bike shorts, I didn't want to turn back. So I kept moving and enjoyed seeing all the blooming trees in Central Park. There was a lot of pedestrian, roller-blading and cycling traffic to dodge, and the return trip was into the wind. I was sufficiently exhausted when I got home, but I did go out to meet some colleagues from work at an event in Tribeca that evening.
Sunday began with a great service at church, where we sang all the familiar, traditional hymns and had an egg hunt for the kids. Returning home, I crashed, falling asleep on the couch for a couple hours until my mom called. I felt drugged, so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. But fortunately she woke me, because I had been invited to a piano-violin concert at a friend's in the Upper West Side.
This is a new friend, introduced to me over email by my cousin-once-removed. They went to university together many years ago, and at a recent family wedding, this cousin and my mom (first cousins) caught up. Because this part of the story is already too long, my cousin reached out and said I should absolutely meet his friend and his wife, who were fascinating, dear people. He is a professor of English, and she is currently on a grant in Italy, although I didn't catch what she's doing. The concert was fantastic: both instrumentalists are very talented and in sync with each other. Afterwards, my host served bouillabaisse with many kinds of seafood I don't usually eat! The flavor was delicious, but I'm a bit squeamish about texture and usually avoid squid and mussels, both of which were plentiful. I couldn't refuse, so I ate almost everything -- I couldn't do the little squid that looks like a mini-octopus. But I enjoyed the visit and conversation around the table immensely.
Friday night, I met up with my friend NM for dinner, and we were joined by my much-younger cousin who's a senior at West Point and one of his buddies. After dinner, three more much-younger guys joined us, and by the end, NM and I were really feeling the 16 year difference in our ages. It's hard for me to specify exactly what it was that left me feeling "old" about the conversation, but I was grateful to have camaraderie when NM turned to me as we left the bar/restaurant saying, "Wow, I feel OLD!"
On Saturday, I took advantage of the sunshine and rode my bike up to Central Park and back downtown. It's about 18 miles roundtrip. The weather looked beautiful, but it was actually a bit chilly, and although I wished I was wearing more than short-sleeves and bike shorts, I didn't want to turn back. So I kept moving and enjoyed seeing all the blooming trees in Central Park. There was a lot of pedestrian, roller-blading and cycling traffic to dodge, and the return trip was into the wind. I was sufficiently exhausted when I got home, but I did go out to meet some colleagues from work at an event in Tribeca that evening.
Sunday began with a great service at church, where we sang all the familiar, traditional hymns and had an egg hunt for the kids. Returning home, I crashed, falling asleep on the couch for a couple hours until my mom called. I felt drugged, so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. But fortunately she woke me, because I had been invited to a piano-violin concert at a friend's in the Upper West Side.
This is a new friend, introduced to me over email by my cousin-once-removed. They went to university together many years ago, and at a recent family wedding, this cousin and my mom (first cousins) caught up. Because this part of the story is already too long, my cousin reached out and said I should absolutely meet his friend and his wife, who were fascinating, dear people. He is a professor of English, and she is currently on a grant in Italy, although I didn't catch what she's doing. The concert was fantastic: both instrumentalists are very talented and in sync with each other. Afterwards, my host served bouillabaisse with many kinds of seafood I don't usually eat! The flavor was delicious, but I'm a bit squeamish about texture and usually avoid squid and mussels, both of which were plentiful. I couldn't refuse, so I ate almost everything -- I couldn't do the little squid that looks like a mini-octopus. But I enjoyed the visit and conversation around the table immensely.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Quality
This was sent to me by a friend. I like it and thought I'd share it:
"Women are like apples on trees, the best ones are on the top of the tree. The men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and don't want to get hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples from the ground -- that isn't so good but easy. So, the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top because they value quality." - Anonymous
"Women are like apples on trees, the best ones are on the top of the tree. The men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and don't want to get hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples from the ground -- that isn't so good but easy. So, the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top because they value quality." - Anonymous
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Un-friending
We have new verbs in our vocabulary now, thanks to the Internet and social media. I'm fully immersed in these with my job, in part, helping clients figure out how to leverage social media. We "Google" people, places and things. If email or phone doesn't work, we can "Facebook" someone. And within that social network, we can "Fan" and "Friend" someone.
I've even had the experience of Un-Friending and Blocking someone on Facebook. Sometimes, like recently, I wish it was as easy to Un-Friend someone in person.
I know a guy going through a rough patch. I also know he likes me as more than a friend. He is currently in a relationship with a girl, but it's not going well. He likes to ask me for advice, but lately, I feel like he's also setting up his next move to ask me to be the next girlfriend. I'm NOT interested. AT ALL. He's not my type by any means, and I find him to be too self-absorbed and arrogant. And while he's decent enough looking, I don't find him attractive.
Lately, he's been asking me for more time and attention (pestering me). He calls, texts me, and asks me for time to meet in person, presumably to talk about his issues with his girlfriend. I've tried to be a good friend and have answered the phone, exchanged texts, and gone to lunch with him on several occasions. But I'm reaching the end of my limit.
When we walk down the street, he constantly leans into me, and my natural inclination is to move sideways. In this manner, we can diagonally cross an extra-wide sidewalk in one short block! He's also very touchy-feely, and I'm just getting to the point where I want to put about a mile in between us. I've never given him ANY encouragement that his feelings are returned. I've tried to be a good friend because I know he's going through a lot and we share a religious community.
But sometimes, I'm too nice for my own good. I know this, in theory, but I have a hard time setting boundaries with people. In the book "Eat. Love. Pray" by Elizabeth Gilbert, she describes herself:
" I have boundary issue with men. Or maybe that's not fair to say. To have issues with boundaries, one must HAVE boundaries in the first place, right?"
I can totally relate.
I've even had the experience of Un-Friending and Blocking someone on Facebook. Sometimes, like recently, I wish it was as easy to Un-Friend someone in person.
I know a guy going through a rough patch. I also know he likes me as more than a friend. He is currently in a relationship with a girl, but it's not going well. He likes to ask me for advice, but lately, I feel like he's also setting up his next move to ask me to be the next girlfriend. I'm NOT interested. AT ALL. He's not my type by any means, and I find him to be too self-absorbed and arrogant. And while he's decent enough looking, I don't find him attractive.
Lately, he's been asking me for more time and attention (pestering me). He calls, texts me, and asks me for time to meet in person, presumably to talk about his issues with his girlfriend. I've tried to be a good friend and have answered the phone, exchanged texts, and gone to lunch with him on several occasions. But I'm reaching the end of my limit.
When we walk down the street, he constantly leans into me, and my natural inclination is to move sideways. In this manner, we can diagonally cross an extra-wide sidewalk in one short block! He's also very touchy-feely, and I'm just getting to the point where I want to put about a mile in between us. I've never given him ANY encouragement that his feelings are returned. I've tried to be a good friend because I know he's going through a lot and we share a religious community.
But sometimes, I'm too nice for my own good. I know this, in theory, but I have a hard time setting boundaries with people. In the book "Eat. Love. Pray" by Elizabeth Gilbert, she describes herself:
" I have boundary issue with men. Or maybe that's not fair to say. To have issues with boundaries, one must HAVE boundaries in the first place, right?"
I can totally relate.
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