keeping it together.

Morning, chickadees.

While it is still pretty gray out over here, it looks like it’s not quite raining, and I’ll take that.

Yesterday was the kind of day that demands that you spend it on the couch catching up on television, so after work, that is precisely what I did.

I’m feeling much more ambitious this morning.

I also woke up to NPR informing me that there is a chance it might not rain until next Tuesday after just a few more showers tonight.

This is the best news I’ve heard in days, chickens.

Especially since my umbrella is on the fritz.

After messing with it all the way up and onto the platform, I couldn’t get it to close.

I spent the entire train ride home last night clenching it with all my temperamental joint strength- no matter how much closed and shut it, it resisted.

I had visions of clocking my seat mate to the floor in an explosion of pink vinyl and metal spokes.

I thought that would probably get me kicked off the CTA.

Luckily, I made it all the way home without injuring anyone or myself.

A feat of strength, if you will.

A little sunshine would really take the pressure off, chicks.

Enjoy this one, especially if you’re dry.

 

 

enjoying every second of this one.

Morning, chickadees!

It’s a rainy (but warm you guys! Warm!) day in Chicago, and while I am not looking forward to making the trek into work, I am feeling pretty good about the nice weekend I just had.

Lots of time with my pals, babies, and family, and I might just have gotten a couple errands finished too.

It looked a little something like this.

 

After an impromptu Mexican dinner and tequila drinking Friday night with my best pals (no, thankfully, there is no photographic evidence of our fashion show), I spent the entirety of Saturday shrugging off a maybe-hangover while watching Aus play baseball (run baby, run! I yelled at he sprinted around all the bases. After the game, he noted that I had to stop calling him baby. Someone might think you’re my girlfriend, he said. I still don’t know how to take that one from a high school freshman) and hanging with KD and Tob.

Yesterday, it was yoga, errands, more errands, bloody marys with my mom&dad and pals, a surprise sighting of the S family, and then an alarming amount of paperwork for a Sunday night.

Things are happening around here, chickens.

And with that, let’s cycle through another week.

 

 

off to the races

Hey chickadees!

I’m typing fast, since I spent the morning posting a little something for my sissy’s blog, Garlic, My Soul.

My sister is organized and under control, two things that I’m not.

My post was scheduled to be published this morning, which of course means that despite knowing about it for days, I decided to start and finish it this morning.

Some of us have to keep people on their toes, right?

In any case, the post focused on some delicious steak, chimichurri, and side dishes we made this weekend when JW’s best friend B was in town.

Check it out over here.

Here’s a little sneak peek of what we were up to:

 

And with that, I’m off to finish getting ready and head into the city for another day of meetings and projects.

Let’s keep this one moving, chickens.

I hear it’s about to warm up this weekend.

Enjoy the sunshine if you’ve got it.

or you’re sinking like a stone/carry on

You guys have no idea how relieved I am to be on the other side of Wednesday.

With only two days in front of me before we hit the weekend, I’m feeling like things in general are much more manageable.

In the last 12 hours, I have successfully completed both kettlebells with G (try harder, right Nikki? he said, gesturing at someone who didn’t quite get the hang of it- I nodded) and a sunrise yoga class led by J (doing sun salutations while the sun is actually rising is definitely a treat, even if it means you have to get up super early).

I’m feeling accomplished, chickens.

Also during class today: tons of strap work, which essentially means that I flail on my mat like a fish out of water- I usually just throw it back at my feet and pray that the strap catches some part of my body.

Unsurprisingly, this is not a very successful method.

And I look less like this:

source

And more like the aforementioned flopping fish.

I’m a work in progress.

Plus, if I was perfect, I would never be able to laugh at myself.

In other yoga news: Lululemon’s newest pants turn out to be sheer (luckily, I’ve been on Lululemon lockdown lately), and Jimmy Kimmel took the opportunity to make this hilarious video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=guYcnGKg9Z8

Namaste, chickadees, and enjoy the sunshine if you’ve got it.

spring is the time of plans and projects

Morning, chickens.

The sun’s shining, and even though it’s not even thirty degrees today, it’s the first day of spring, and that means we’re marching toward something a little brighter. My friend MC took this beautiful picture the other day, and it’s really a light spot in my is-it-ever-getting-warmer musings.

 

Maggie Cassidy, capturer of beauty

Last night, my pal LM convinced me to head to the gym, even though it was really the last thing I felt like doing after a long, frustrating-at-the-end day.

I’ve been having too many of those kind of days, you guys.

Anyway.

I hit the treadmill again, and again, it was not pretty (not even in the least), but I’m just going to keep on trucking.

Eventually, my legs are going to remember what it is to keep moving for more than three minutes.

Until then, I’m gonna be patient.

I’m probably not actually going to be patient, but I do promise to at least try not to overdo it and hurt myself.

Moving slowly is hard work, chickadees.

Up today: work, work, work, getting ready for B’s weekend visit, and heading to the most needed bells class in recent history.

Sometimes, a diversion in attention in the form of a tiny, loud, encouraging Russian is just what you need to get everything back into the place it needs to be.

Let’s cruise through this one to the other side, pals.

and i can’t change, even if i tried/even if i wanted to

Morning, chickadees.

And I apologize, again, for the long pause between posts.

First, I was in New Jersey for work.

I know.

I had a lovely view of the city from my room, found out that I can fly without xanax if only I drink more than I should, and was thankful to cruise back home to JW at the end of it.

“You smell like a bar,” he noted cheerfully when he picked me up.

If only I could report that things got better from there.

Alas, I spent the weekend doing not one thing I should, but several things that I wanted to do, and so I find myself a little scatterbrained (and dehydrated) this morning.

Sometimes, what you need is another drink, a bar stool next to your pal’s, and and permission to laugh until your sides burst.

It was that kind of weekend.

Sometimes you have to roll with what it is you know that you need.

And now, it’s the kind of week where I search out every vegetable I can get my paws on, hit the yoga mat with all the intentions I have, and drink every glass of water I can.

I just ate a half Luna bar and an apple for breakfast- It’s feeling very 2006 in my home today.

I plan on bringing us forward by this time tomorrow.

I hope the sunshine’s hitting you where you are today, chickens. Enjoy the start of this one.

everything is okay- mantra for the morning.

Morning, chickens!

The sun is shining here, which is a massive improvement, and despite the fact that NPR just told me it’s 9 degrees with the wind chill, I’ll take this as a step in the right direction.

I’m trying not to remember how deliciously warm it was last year during this week, but so far, it’s not working.

We’ve got a few days here to warm up at least a little bit.

I’m running late this morning, due to the fact that I decided to hit the yoga mat bright and early this morning.

Yoga in the morning is tough with my stubborn joints, but I like to think that pouring some good energy into all of the parts that don’t quite work helps them out.

Plus any day I can start out in a headstand is a day that’s gonna be positive.

It’s a proven fact.

 

Other things of note: last night I attempted a run for the first time in several months.

It was a disaster.

I couldn’t even find the gym at my building, which should have been my first sign that things would take a turn for the worse.

Instead, I wandered around the floor, pretending that visiting the freight elevator was a normal, post-6pm activity on a Tuesday night.

Eventually, I stumbled into the correct door, and got down to it.

 

My knees were heavy, my breath was labored, and I could only do short intervals of running before having to stop and walk.

I tried to remain un-frustrated, which was near impossible, as I reflected on the fact that I was finishing 6 miles easy at this point last year.

That doesn’t mean I’m not trying again.

My legs will take me where I want to go eventually, chickadees.

I can slow it down until then.

try for me just a little longer.

Ok, chickens, it’s the end of this week.

And oh man am I ready for it to be Friday.

Plans this weekend include: more yoga, more bells, one baby shower, and making sure JW doesn’t leave the couch.

He’s about as good at sitting still as I am.

Which means that I have to keep ordering him to the couch.

Last night I left my cubicle far later than I wanted to, hit the mat for as many deep breaths as I could take, and then grabbed some dinner with my pals to take to the patient, who admitted he’d been eating string cheese and goldfish all day.

It’s amazing what sitting around eating burritos with your best friends can do for your perspective.

Sometimes I think at the end of the day, it’s all about things like do you have people who you can eat burritos on the floor with and also do they make you laugh even when you don’t feel like it?

I think that, based on my observations, if the answer to both is yes, then you’re probably in really good shape, overall.

Sometimes it’s just about focusing on the things that are really important, chickens.

I’m keeping that one in mind as I cruise through this last day of the week.

Enjoy the sunshine if you’ve got it (and it looks like we’ve got it).

 

to the bottom of the exhalation

Morning, chickadees!

This is another fast moving morning, likely because I insisted on sleeping in right until seven.

Which generally, my friends, is not a big deal, except that sometimes I forget.

I forget that a morning full of twisting open jar lids is basically my new worst nightmare.

In high school, I had a friend whose mom could never twist open water bottles.

I thought this was lame, obviously.

I thought most things were lame at sixteen.

However, I would like to lob a giant I-am-so-sorry in her direction, since Saturday night I found myself handing over my iced tea bottle to sweet, 15-year old Aus who twisted it open and handed it right back to me without even a second thought.

“Where does it hurt the most?” he asked, looking concerned.

That kid is better on his worst day then I ever was at my best when I was fifteen.

In any case, this was not meant to be a pity party since, chickadees, in the end, I wrenched open the necessary lids this morning.

I’m just running a little late as a result.

I might also be kind of sweaty.

And I may have somehow cut myself during this whole endeavor.

It was sort of a battle situation.

However, I’ve got this to look forward to on my ride into work:

Take that, immune system.

Up today: getting back into it, listening to good music, heading to yoga, and crossing all my fingers and toes for something exciting happening over in my corner of the Second City.

Enjoy the sunshine if you’ve got it, chicks!

 

accidents leading up to the punch line

Morning, chickens!

If you’re in Chicago, it’s a snowy one out there.

And I’m not one bit surprised that I accidentally left my snow boots at work.

There are worse things than wet feet, I suppose.

I’ll take wet feet today if it means it’s all cleared away tomorrow when we’re supposed to fly to Florida.

A couple of notes on that:

• I haven’t even looked in my closet to see if I own any warm weather clothes. In this case, is it acceptable to simply wear a bathing suit and dock shoes all weekend?
• I have zero books to take with me. This could be a thing.
• I also haven’t called my doctor to get my xanax prescription filled so that I can fly like a (semi) normal human instead of an anxiety-filled mess.

Strangely, I am not concerned about this.

I’m feeling like maybe I can tackle it on self control only.

This is likely a giant mistake.

I’ll let you know how it shakes out.

In any case, I am more than ready to get out of dodge after a weekend that not even a consistent yoga practice could calm down.

And with that, I’m finishing up my breakfast beverage (side note: if you don’t really blend up a smoothie, you’re gonna have to chew spinach leaves, which is about as weird as it sounds), and heading out into the snowy tundra.

Without my snow boots.

It’s about keeping it interesting, chickadees.

Enjoy the sunshine if you’ve got it.