Daffodil Chronicles

10 Reasons To Sit on an Excercise Ball at Work

I recently mentioned that I'm sitting on an excercise ball at work instead of a chair.  I seriously sit on this damn thing every single day, all day.  Even when co-workers laugh at me and they do with witty little comments about what is going to hatch, you get the idea.  So I noticed during this busy week, I have yet to go to the gym save for one time on Tuesday and I'll be damned if I'm not getting more toned by sitting on this stupid ass ball.  So I looked online to see if that could be true and sho' nuff!  I ran into this article which helped me with my Friday List.

http://www.gearfire.net/10-reasons-to-use-an-exercise-ball-as-your-chair/

1) Spine Alignment (my back hurt the first day or so but now strong!)

2) Frequently change positions (you have to bounce when turning around to see people or answer the phone)

3) Fitness at your fingertips (I don't use it for excercise, I work in a cube and they laugh at me enough as it is)

4) Improve balance (SO true)

5) Get that 6 pack (well I never have a 6 pack unless its called IPA)

6) Improves your circulation (I like this one although haven't noticed)

7) More energetic (yes, TRUE!)

8) Burn up to 350 calories per day (jigga WHAT??  Seriously??  I LOVE THIS)

9) Really cheap (mine was FREE from someone here at work who couldn't handle the ridicule- Bring it!)

10) It's FUN (okay I think this journalist ran out of items and he really wanted 10 but yes its bouncy and fun and actually makes me feel kinda cute)

The Ball

Friday List: Really?

Things that Make You Go "Really? really?"

1) Justin Long pontificating on the inappropriateness of Johnjay and Rich asking him about dating Drew Barrymore again.  I'ts an INTERVIEW. Pompous, much? You're not Brad Pitt.

2) Jon and Kate on the cover of my US Magazine for 5 weeks in a row.  Really?  I'm beginning to hate them.

3) Donut Friday here in my office.  Really?  Can we have fruit or yougurt or something else?

4) My Blackberry rolly ball that doesn't let me roll to the right so I can't lock it therefore it calls people from my purse.  Sorry, April.

5) My favorite white cargo pants that used to be too big and now are just too tight.  Really?  Come on.  Can't some of that weight just fall off, please?

6) Four Day work weeks that feel longer than the regular Five Day.  Really?  How in the world? 

7) Me promising you guys that I'd blog every day.  Sorry, I'll be better.

Happy Gorgeous Beautiful Friday!

Friday List

Things I'm Going to Do This Memorial Day Weekend:

1) Run

2) Shop at IKEA for vases for the wedding and whatever else hops into my cart

3) Yardwork

4) Run with Michelle and Lisa

5) BBQ

6) Rent "Paul Blart Mall Cop" because Cole really wants to see it

7) Go to Goodwill

8) Organize my basement and Garage

9) Go to the Dump

"HI!"  This is me sitting at my desk today :)  Happy Friday

Simple As That

I was driving into work today on this beautiful Wednesday and I had promised Cole that I would take him to the new donut (doughnut? why is it spelled correctly both ways according to spellcheck? Its dough, right?)  anyway.....DOUGHnut shop right on Powell (insert jump up and squeal of delight! New cool stuff going into my neighborhood left and right!) It's called Acme Donuts (Oh...that's why I spelled it that way) AnyWHO!  It's the cutest little place, its all retro with its bright colors and colorful round dots on the signs and door, very clever.  The place is empty and the woman behind the counter pops up off her stool and says "Good Morning!" and Cole starts looking at all the rows of doughnuts in front of him......so many! 

Donut Girl: "What are you up to this morning?" (she's about my age, totally hip in a cute skirt and two tshirts layered and a super cute apron on, her hair is up in that side french braid that looks like a headband - she's so cool)
Cole: "Mom said we need to try this place and I love donuts!"

Donut: "Are you on your way to school?"

Cole: "Yes, I went to bed really good last night so we got to stop here before school!:

Me: I'm just quiet getting my coffee listening the Chatty McTalkalot and Donut.

Donut: "What grade are you in?"

Cole: "Kindergarten."

Donut: "How many weeks until school is out?"

Cole and Me: "Four!"

Donut to me: "Are you a teacher?"

Me: "oh...no....just ...no"

Donut: "Huh...you look like a teacher, really.  That's a good thing. Like a cool fun teacher."
Cole: "SHE WANTS TO BE! AND I WANT HER TO TEACH AT MY SCHOOL! She's going to be a teacher as soon as George, he's my stepdad, gets his job and then MOM IS GOING TO BE A TEACHER!"

Me: laughing turning bright red: "Boy, they repeat everything huh?"

Donut: laughing "Awww...that's awesome!  Good luck!"

Cole's mubbleing out the door ".....well you ARE, wow! I like that place, she was really nice, can we come here every day?" Me shuffling Cole out the door after I paid $2.75 for two donuts and a 16 oz coffee!  I love Acme Donuts! And the woman who owns it.

So yes, I was driving into work today after dropping Cole off at his school and thinking "Huhn...hmmm.....yup..."  I've got to find a way to become a teacher and soon, its just as simple as that.

Tinsletown Tuesday

In another effort to keep blogging every day - I'm only going to incorporate one more weekly topic.  Tuesdays will now be "Tinsletown Tuesdays" where I report and give my ever so coveted opinion of the crap I read every day on the homepages of MSN, Google and Yahoo. 

The Gosselin's: my favorite diss on Kate this week has to be when she reportedly had the sextuplets birthday a week later than their actual birthday because their birthday landed on Mothers Day and she was at the "spa" instead of "with her kids".  WTF!  I mean, Really?  We are going to disparage a woman who has 8 freaking kids under the age of 5 for spending a couple hours a spa on MOTHERS DAY?  Good lord, if I was on tv with 8 kids, I'd have a friggin' nanny and be at the spa!

The Gosselin's Part 2: They are on every cover of every gossip rag and this week Kate "admits" to having problems in her marriage.  Really?  You do?  Well, you're probably the only one.  The media acts like its newsworthy that she has problems, the only thing newsworthy here is that she actually admits it.  We all have problems, and I'm not on tv, don't have a spineless husband or 8 kids!  Good job Kate for standing up and actually saying it. 

Jessica Biel: Jessica (Miss-I-Landed-The-Coolest-Most-Talented-Man-On-Earth) will grace the cover of Allure Magazine and in her interview cries about how hard it is to be so darn beautiful.  She can't land those coveted roles that Scarlett gets because she's not what they are looking for.  And she surmises that its because she's TOO pretty.  Has she looked at Scarlett lately??  Oh Honey, maybe it's because you suck as an actress.

Biel Part 2: Jessica also reveals that she probably doesn't want to get married.  Dumbass. 

Precious Choices

Saturday Lisa, Michelle and I met for our weekly run, we usually either run on Saturday or Sunday mornings, on this particular Saturday we opted to run from Michelle's house to the Springwater Trail and down into Sellwood, its a really nice run, or rather is used to be.  We were headed down 62nd to cross Johnson Creek Blvd to get to the trail, I was really looking forward to the break at the walk signal. 

We were chatting at the signal waiting for it when it turned to the little white crossing guy and we started across the street, we got about 2/3's of the way through the crosswalk when we heard this horifying crash which sounded quite like an explosion for just a milisecond.  The three of us bounded up to the sidewalk turned around to see a Toyota truck had been rear ended so hard that it narrowly missed hitting the three of us, and coming at our feet was the back tire from the truck.  The three of us stood there stunned, looked down at the tire at our feet, looked at each other, looked back down at the tire.  As we look back up, the woman who had rammed into the back of the Toyota was careening through the intersection toward the sidewalk where we were waiting for the light, the only thing that stopped her (thankfully not US) was a fire hydrant.  She slammed into that and the car sounded like it might explode, she was struggling to get out of the driver seat, got out, looked dazed and confused, dropped to her knees and laid down on the ground.  Some runners ran over to her to aid her until help arrived.  I sort of shook off the shock for a moment and ran over to the boys in the truck.  They were all in shock and very confused, there were three of them and they all looked about 20 years old.  I stayed with the driver after getting the two other boys to the other side of the street to sit down, they were starting to wander around in a dazed manner and we didn't need more crashes!  So Michelle and Lisa stayed with them on the curb and I stayed with the driver.

A cyclist came up behind me and was out of breath, he said "It started way back there about 20 blocks, she hit someone in a parking lot and had no tire and was driving like a bat out of hell! I've been following her on my bike!"  Then the Parking Lot victim drove up and starting telling Michelle and Lisa about how he was trying to follow her but had to stop at all the lights she ran.  We were all concluding that she was either super drunk (yes, at 11am) or on something stronger. 

My 20 year old driver kept saying over and over "I was going to hit you guys, she hit me so hard, all i could do was slam my foot on my brake - I was headed directly for you."  His friends were saying the exact same thing to Michelle and Lisa, how scary it all was.  How close the three of us came to getting smooshed on Johnson Creek Blvd.  Then Michelle thinks about it and says "Well we were about 1.5 seconds away from just being hit - we were about 5 from being killed by her.   I'm not sure we would have had time to see her coming and get out the way. 

The cops came and took all our statements and told us that she was indeed inebriated and probably fine, we pleaded with the boys to get checked out because of the sheer force of the impact.  The drivers brother in law showed up and was more forceful about them seeking medical treatment.

I learned a couple of things on Saturday: Always carry a cell phone when running, people are inherrently good (all the people that ran to everyone's aid and were following her to stop her) choices that take just a second can save your life, life is precious and can be snapped away from you, and the little things that bother me were just catapulted into perspective. 

I've never wanted to hug Michelle and Lisa tighter and longer than that day. 

Friday's Random List

I read about things to blog about if you get stuck and so I thought that on Friday's I would put together a random list of things, could be anything but today on my mind is sleep or lack there of.  So welcome to the first Friday Random List

Things that Keep Waking Me Up All Night (every night):

1) Oscar up and down off the bed (once he's up its fine)

2) George's snoring

3) Worry  (money, the wedding, george's mother hating me, the reunion, my weight)

4) Rain down our gutters that have no downspout (that will come to an end soon)

5) 6am Friday Morning: The Garbage Truck.  Why were we chosen to be the first on the route?  I know those guys work all friggin day!  What about 2pm when I'm at work TOO!

6) Ah....my 90-something year old neighbor who needs a miracle ear .  1940's music starts BLARING - BLARING at 4am.  I need more pillows to cover myself in.  It's hard to be mad at the guy....I mean I'm guessing his time left here is short, I should probably just deal - but 4am?  Come on buddy, I know KATU has some nice news at that time, maybe you should watch that in your way back room until I get up.

You'll fine me later with my head laying on my desk. 

Happy Friday!

Changes

Jake stopped by my work yesterday, just to see how I was doing while he was out job hunting.  With the impending arrival of his new baby, he's feeling pressure to get a full time job with benefits, although this economy is being quite tough so I feel for him.  Even when he moved out of the house, it took him about 2 point 5 seconds to start to appreciate me again and what he had living with mom.  Last couple of years my posts mostly consisted of utter confusion and hurt because he couldn't seem to be in the same room with me without yelling or ignoring me.  Things have changed quite a bit, with the news of my new grandson, he has completely changed back into the lovey and huggy boy I raised. (I also know that much of Jake's transformation has to do with Katie - she is a dream)

This past birthday that I celebrated in April and Mothers Day a couple of weeks later, he was all over it.  He made sure he was at my party and gave me a card at dinner that made me cry in front of all my friends. 

Last  year I thought we'd never be the same, that we had lost that closeness that we shared for 17 years.  I was wrong, dead wrong.  He and I are closer than ever and I cherish that every single day.  I can't wait to help support him and Katie with the baby's arrival and be a big part of giving them breaks and helping out.  As each day goes by, I am more and more proud of him and the man he is becoming.

Sigh.....time to get serious

The great thing about getting older is that I am starting to obsess less about my weight and looking like all the celebrities and models in the magazines, or so I thought.  Notice I said "less", I still want to be able to walk around and feel comfortable in my own body and weight.  The crappy thing about getting older is that its so much harder to lose weight once you have put some on, stupid metabolism.

I really want to lose some of this extra weight I'm carrying around - my clothes aren't fitting right, I feel heavier when I run, it's just super disappointing and I can't help but feel this cloud over me.  You know its bad when thoughts interrupt my sleep - you'd think that would be the one time I could just realx, apparently not.  I awoke this morning with that dread that spurned into a full fledged tailspin when I couldn't find anything cute to wear to work today.  Poor George just quietly walked to the kitchen ducking from the foul mood that was permeating the bedroom.  Alas I put on a trusty t shirt skirt and long sleeved tee and here I sit. 

I don't weigh myself, I never really have and it terrifies me to do so.  I usually just notice that my jeans fit better.  I am wavering on going to buy a scale so I can at least guage it on the other hand, it could really just depress me.  I don't chart what I eat, I just eat what sounds good.  The only thing I've kept track of is my workouts - I'm consistently working out at least 4 days a week, might have to up that one a little bit.

Today is the day - I counted 9 1/2 weeks until the wedding and I'm going to lose the weight before that wonderful day.  I want to feel good about myself in my wedding dress and at the beach on our honeymoon, I really do.  Bring on the healthy eating and working out!  Wish me luck!!

Weekend Haps

So much for posting everyday!  This is harder than I thought, I know everyone likes pictures but I didn't take any this past Mothers Day weekend, probably because it was so jammed with things that were pretty much back to back.  Here are the highlights:

Gladstone Pub:  George called on Friday as I was leaving work saying that he was just leaving PSU and would see me at home with my catlike quickness, I offered to swing by and pick him up.  We both had busy Fridays and were looking forward to just being together.  I suggested we try the Gladstone Pub because we drive/ride by it all the time and Mark and Michelle said it was good especially now with the smoking ban, you can actually see in there now.  The bartender was super fabulous and quite cute with her tattoos showing and her bad ass yelling at the patrons that were "most certainly NOT 10 feet away from the goddammed door".  How do you not love that girl?  They have Terminal Gravity on tap and she has a heavy hand with the mixed drinks, vodka anyone? I had the best nachos I've had in a long time (sorry Mickey Finn's) and they were CHEAP.  Two beers, nachos, sandwich for George, and two vodka drinks, we left with a 35.00 tab.  Nice.

The Lake Run: Now this is a highlight but not a super happy drippy sweet highlight.  Its notworthy because I believe this to be one of the most challenging races that I force myself to do every year. My running partner and super awesome pal, Michelle endured this torture with me.  It's a 12k race around Lake Oswego, which sounds nice huh?  It's the most hilly race out there, as Michelle described it after we were finished?  Up, down, Up, down, Up, Up, Up, Down - Ouch.  But we did it and felt super cool for the rest of the day.

Rebecca's New Pad:  George and I headed over to Rebecca's Saturday afternoon to help her unpack her life at her new pad.  The place is roomy and lovely - she so deserves a nice place to call home. Yay!

Muvver's Day:  To me Mothers Day will always be called "Muvvers Day".  BOTH my boys called it that when they were little and I just love to hear it and it's kind of stuck after all these years.  We spent the morning with George's Dad's side of the family which is always so much fun (notice I said DAD"S side - not mom, that is a whole nuther post) We finished the day off at my Muvver's house for dinner.  Jake was there and Cole gave me a note from school.  He drew a picture of me with yellow long hair and it said "I love my mom because she gives me big hugs all the time and she is very pretty".  I love that child.