Label on Empty Ziploc in Hub's Maildrop

I included a few extra ones for him to share with his friends.

Too Tired

I'm worn out.

I am tired.

I am feeling pulled in 100 different directions by 100 different responsibilities. And I don't feel like I have the energy to meet even one of them.

I'm not depressed. Not by a long stretch. I'm just seriously feeling the need for some down time. And some time away from my car and away from the computer screen. And away from the paint supplies, cleaning supplies, and yard work.

I'll go for a walk before it gets too dark. That will help.

Hm. I thought the busy-ness was supposed to end with tax season.

Quick

Things that have happened in April that I didn't blog about:

Shakespeare's birthday
My friend Mary's birthday
Piano group class where I played the C# P&F horribly after years of diligent practice
The start of Hubster's big hike
A gazillion unphotographed before-and-after moments of home improvements
Visits from Mr. Hugh & Mrs. Gwen
My sister's baby, Lima Bea, turned two months old (since conception).
Tax season ended (oh, wait ... I think I blogged about that).
I baked a mean batch of cinnamon granola.
I baked a mean batch of blondies.
I ran, but not regularly, and not often enough.
Spring sprung. Spring sprang. Spring is here!
My mom and I planted two gardens.
I was feeling impetuous and painted my garden door Impetuous. Big mistake. Time to color-shop again.
My friend Donna came down with the mumps.
I signed up for Twitter. You can read my "tweets" in the right column of this blog, under "Twitter Updates." I'll tweet more once my cell phone is fixed.
My cell phone broke.
I got my hearing aid adjusted. So now I hear even better.

There's more. It's been a busy month.

Saturday Morning

I woke up early and wrote up a storm. Just needing to get my head kind of cleared out. It's been a while since I've been able to sit in silence and just write. None of my writing was creative stuff; it was just head-clearing stuff.

Because my head is still stuffed with random bits and pieces of thoughts picked up like burrs on velcro over the last few months, I'm not ready to dive into the creative stuff just yet. I will be soon.

Clearly, I haven't morphed into my frequent-blogger self yet, either.

Maybe tomorrow.

I'm missing my little old Hubster.

Life = Back

Yes, the nature of my job is that my life, to some extent, revolves around tax season. This means that support season is over, as of 7 p.m. tonight for me. This means that I get my life back now. No more shifts. No more answering phones. No more tax forms. No more work weekends. No more late hours.

Just plain, simple tech writing. Fun with FrameMaker. Flexible hours. Time to run. Time to write. Time for George.

Of course, life won't be totally back to normal. But it's nice to sit here, glass of red wine in front of me, and know that I don't need to go to work tomorrow. And to know that I survived my first tax season at this company.

As far as stress levels, it didn't hold a candle to that year I was a teacher. Life is good.

I'll be back to work Thursday. I'm looking forward to going back and settling back in to the productive summer season.

Hubster Article

I'm happy about this, but I also think it's a big reason that I've been out of sorts lately.

Hiker shares journey step by step

This Is Getting Ridiculous

Can I just vent for a little while? If you're one of those people who hate reading personal venting blogs, then you can just go on your merry way. I need to vent about some things. I'll probably do so in a series of posts.

This morning, I want to talk about exercise, nutrition, my ever-expanding waistline, my rapidly widening hips, and my new and unimproved "sedentary lifestyle" butt: What is going on with me? What happened to the little running addict who would fit in her run each day, even if it meant waking up at 5 a.m. or squeezing in a 5-miler at 9 p.m.? Generally, I am nothing if not motivated. I am the type of person to whom friends and acquaintances declare, "Oh, I wish I had your energy and resolve!" Seriously. I am the friend who motivates other friends to get in shape.

I haven't been on a long run in I-don't-know-how-long. After the flu recovery (early- to mid-March), I was starting to run again. I did several runs between 5 and 10 miles. Not the distance I wanted to be going, but at least an acceptable distance.

I didn't go to the half-marathon in late March that I had signed up and paid for. I was too tired.

Work has been so busy (not particularly stressful ... just busy). And the long commute each day is taking its toll. And with the Hubster leaving soon on his long journey, I found myself opting, time after time, to come straight home after work instead of going on my run. And we're doing some home renovations, which is keeping me busy on weekends ... and even though I plan to run, I end up not doing it. And now we're going out to eat nearly every night because we want to spend time with friends before Hubster leaves.

So I had a huge half-pizza last night.

I haven't had a banana in three days.

I took the day off yesterday because I needed to get some things done. Instead of running, I played the piano all day. Then finally went for a run at the gym at 7:30 p.m. and walked/ran a measly 2.5 miles. I felt so bored. I didn't want to be running. I wanted to be home with Hubster.

I could have gone to the grocery store and bought some bananas. But I didn't.

I went to the Greenway to run last Wednesday, but some man I didn't know insisted on running with me. He barely spoke English and kept asking questions like, "You run here every Wednesday? I see you here again tomorrow?" And his friends were nodding approvingly at him, I guess since he was running with a little blonde thing. Talk about creepy. I ran a quick two miles, got in my car, and left. So much for that run.

Yes, I am venting. Yes, I know this post has no structure, no sense of development, and hardly a smidgen of my characteristic self-deprecating humor. How the mighty have fallen.

There you go. :)

Today is Saturday, and Hubster and I have a day full of house projects to tackle, and we're meeting friends in Asheville tonight for, yes, dinner. When am I going to run? I don't want to run. I don't feel like running. I'm tired and cranky and, frankly, I wouldn't mind just going back to bed for the rest of the morning.

Something is wrong. This is not typical behavior for me. I need to get back to running and eating right. For several years now, running has been my "cure" for feeling like this. The good bod has been merely a side benefit of the good health and positive mental outlook.

The good news:

Shift season at work ends on Tuesday. After Tuesday, my life becomes my own again. No more 50-hour weeks in which I have to show up at X time and leave at Y time. I can start running in the mornings again and get to work when I please.

I just wish someone would buy our house. The commute is really wearing me out.

OK, venting session over. Feel free to post encouraging comments at this time. :)

Things I Can Hear

*UPDATED*

Now that I have my new hearing aid*, I can hear:

- The squishing sounds people make when they eat
- A springy sound when I hit a piano key (I think this is a result of George's old age).
- Birds
- The hum of the refrigerator
- The sound of feet brushing against rocks on the gravel road where Hub and I walked yesterday
- The sound of papers shuffling
- Wrappers crinkling when my co-worker Anon Blob eats his afternoon snack
- Everyone else's cell phones (I could have done without this one)
- Everyone in my office talking. I used to think this was such a quiet place to work. Now I know it's not.
- The farting bbrrrbbbrrr sound my exercise ball makes when I move around on it. (I really am just moving around on it.)
- The REALLY LOUD CLICKING of my keyboard. I love to type really fast.
- Overtoney sounds on the piano
- My soft-spoken boss
- What everyone says in meetings
- The embarrassing whistling sound my coffee cup lid makes when I sip my coffee (No. It is not a sound I make. It is the coffee cup lid.)
- The clicking sound when I press numbers on my cell phone

And did you know that Steve Insky's last name isn't Insky? It's Inskeep. I heard the popping little "p" sound at the end of his name this morning on NPR.

And here's a cool one: Last night the Hubster and I went to dinner with our friends David and Melissa at a restaurant with wood floors. Restaurants with wood floors are generally a nightmare for me because acoustics have sounds bombarding me from every which way and I can't tell what anyone is saying and I end up with a headache after it's all said and done. But last night, Hubster held a conversation with David and I talked to Melissa for about two hours. And I didn't once have to ask Melissa to repeat herself. And she's relatively soft-spoken and everything.

At work yesterday, one of my co-workers took a support call. He talked so loud that it hurt my ears and I actually had to turn the hearing aid off. I went to my friend Broccoli Warpath Gal and told her what had happened, and she rolled her eyes and said, "He hurts everyone's ears. Welcome to our world."

Welcome to our world, indeed. What an amazing, welcoming world this is, rich with opportunities for discovery, even if the things I'm discovering have been common knowledge forever.

*Unlike my old hearing aid, this one is digital. The difference between the two is amazing. There is really no comparison. The old hearing aid simply made things louder and allowed me to hear birds and a few other higher noises. This hearing aid brings the whole world to life.

Pensive

I’m all pensive lately.

Last night the song “I’ve Got a Rock and Roll Heart” came on the radio. And I thought to myself, “Self …”

Seriously, I thought, “As much as I claim to love Eric Clapton, I really do not think I have a rock-and-roll heart.”

Then, “Come to think of it, I don’t believe I have a honky-tonk heart, either.”

Did I miss out on something big, I wonder?

How To Attract Homebuyers, Rule #2

Rule #2 of How To Attract Homebuyers: Remove all of the ugly wallpaper and drop it on the floor. Leave it there. Potential homebuyers will feel thankful that they didn't have to do the work themselves.



My apologies for the butt shot. It was the only one Hubster took that included the wallpaper-removal process and the wallpaper gunk on the floor.

Note to Mrs. Gwen: I know exactly what you're thinking. I have an appointment Thursday at 12:30. I really do.

Note #2 to Mrs. Gwen: I know what else you're thinking, and all I can say is this: Please be aware that even we fashionistas need a break every now and then.