A Shenandoah Adventure

Colleen took me on an adventure in honor of my birthday. We went out to the greater Shenandoah area where we may or may not have done some or all of the following: (in no particular order)
antiquing
shnacking
wondering through stores of random things
smacking the daylights out of small spheres
taking in lots of beautiful scenery
driving recklessly in tiny little cars
driving safely on very fun, but curvy roads
dinner at a yummy little restaurant
and, of course, spending time with one of my favorite people!
yay for adventure!

A nice kind of life

I had a somewhat strange thought on the way home tonight. And, it came while during a really mundane task. In fact, while doing one mundane task sandwiched in between two other mundane tasks. I was carrying my groceries home just after shopping and just before cooking. And, yet, it seems I was enjoying all three. When I was walking home, the sun was just starting to go down, it was the perfect temperature and I felt 100% content. I thought, there are a lot of different kinds of lives out there. This one isn't all that exciting. But, it's really a nice kind.
Hope you enjoy yours, too. Now - off to eat some cantaloupe.

Pesto with Potatoes??

Who puts potatoes in pesto? Well, apparently Trader Joe does. Weird.

Also, I got selected for jury duty! Yippee!
I'm excited.

A new life experience

Prior to this evening, I had never been on an elevator with someone smoking. There's a life experience I wouldn't have minded living without.

A mountain weekend

I made a quick trip home to good ol' Western PA this weekend. I expected to see my parents, which was good. I know I'm probably too old for this, but I was kind of homesick. Nothing like a little mountain air and hugs from mom and dad to cure that. I got bonuses, though. I got to see my brother and his family for a little while on Saturday and we all went and visited my Pappy and then my Grandmother. That was cool. We don't get a lot of family time together. Ironically, we were all together except for my older brother.... and it was his birthday.
Then, that night I got to hear a friend of mine sing a jazz concert with some guys she gigs with in Baltimore. I hadn't heard her perform since high school... it was a little surreal to hear jazz in Ebensburg. And, beyond that, to hear jazz sitting in a group of perfectly still white people. But, it was really good and I'm going to try to hear her again soon.
Fun, fun.

Help me!

I need to name a concert of American music and my creativity is waning. All suggestions welcome! If you suggest something I use, I'll take you out for dinner.
Seriously.

Newsflash!

I watched an animated movie tonight and thought it was great. We watched Toy Story 2 and it was so funny! Yay for animation that Hyla likes!

And, yay, also for spinach and feta stuffed chicken! ooh-rah!

Quote of the day

From my dear friend, Amy: You never know when a photo of you dressed as a pharaoh is going to get on National TV.

Also, apparently, I have a new boss. excitement all around.

A good weekend

This was a very good weekend. Friday night I went (with some indulging friends) to the Hirshhorn's afterhours event where I got to see some great art and play with a lite brite! It was really fun. This shot is one of the works on display there right now.... it's pretty awesome... if you live in DC, you should get your tail there and just watch it for 10,15, 20 minutes. Pretty cool. More shots on my flickr site.

Then, yesterday, I drove to Lancaster county, PA to see my friend Lisa and her family before they make the move to Kansas in a few weeks. I will miss having her on the East Coast! We've never lived more than about 2 hours apart (well, except for my brief west/midwest tour). So, I wish them luck. This is her and her daughter, Kayla, who turned exactly 4 months yesterday... is she cute or what?

Arg... why does blogger do that? Sorry for the ugly formatting.

conundrum

It's just so very, very difficult to know what to do.

Also, I lost my phone and had to buy a new, ugly one... blech

more happiness tomorrow

My 2 year anniversary

Exactly 2 years ago today, some friends came over to my house just north of Philly, helped me pack all of my earthly belongings into a UHaul (which took all of 20 minutes) and said Goodbye as I ventured toward my next city. I had just sold my car that morning which left me with my flute as my sole possession of any worth. My father likes to point out that I came to DC with no job, no apartment and no car. That's not all entirely true (I did have a part-time retail gig), but the point remains. But, those are really just things... it was the starting over part that was harder than finding an apartment and a job. It's been good, though. I was fortunate to find a great church that June and I've made some really great friendships there (in addition to the great ones I already had here!). Just this weekend someone said to me, "You've only been here 1 1/2 years? You seem to know everyone!"
So, I guess I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the ways my life is different than it was two years ago. Two years ago, I didn't have a full-time job. I was pretty close to actually being depressed about it, which is why I decided to try a complete change and move here. I was frustrated with not having any local friends that I could really confide in. I was scared to death of getting trapped in a room with Hill staffers and lobbyists. And, I wasn't completely sold on my church and more importantly, I wasn't 100% sold on my faith. I was ready to make big changes and I wasn't really above making those changes outside of my beliefs. Things are completely different now! Praise God! I have a job and though I complain about it, it's not awful... it could be much, much worse. I have some really great friends, the kind I can call up at the last minute for coffee or drinks. I am confident that if I got stuck in a room with Hill-types that I would come out sane... or at least, alive. And, most importantly, I have a church that I really enjoy being a part of and giving back to. No, actually, that isn't the most important thing. The most important thing is that my life is recentered around my faith once again. My focus has been restored and for the first time in my life, I feel as though I've started to understand how real life and my faith can exist in the same space -- without partitions.
Life is good. And, I'm going to go ahead and say it... I know I'll be sorry I put it in "ink" later, but here goes... I really like DC right now.

Snow!!!

Yesterday, it snowed that perfect kind of snow where you scoop up a handful and it automatically turns into a snowball. The kind that sticks on the branches 3 inches thick. The kind that turns me into a little kid. So, I called up my friend Dennis and insisted we go play in the snow. We ended up going out to Great Falls, VA (I had never been there before) and we hiked and snowballed and built a snowman (see exhibit A) and I even made a snow angel. It was so fun!! I'm still smiling! More pics are here

News Items in Hyla's life

1 - We got a new toilet. Now the bathroom is one less part institutional-looking and one more part normal apartment-looking.
2 - My brother and sis-in-law launched their church on Sunday. Over 200 people showed up for the first week! I am so excited for them and for what God wants to do through them in their exploding community!
3 - There is a very good chance that the reign of the nosering is coming to an end. I have mixed emotions... I don't want to lose my funky, semi-rebellious streak.... I'll have to look for a new "signature".
4 - I have been reminded once again that DC has NO clue how to deal with snow. Perhaps, just perhaps, plows should get out and clear the snow in the first 24 hours. Maybe we shouldn't just clear the main streets and then wait for the rest to melt. Just a thought!
5 - The order of these news items is in no way related to their significance.

A few good things

I've been feeling pretty negative over the last month or so and so I thought I would write a few positive thoughts to counteract that.
- I got a great, sexy tank that I needed for an event for $5 on Sunday!
- My friend Amy has returned to her status as front page Amy with her leading story tomorrow! Congrats, Ames!
- I bought a different version of the Bible last week and I'm totally enjoying reading it... yay God!
- My brother and sis-in-law launch their church this weekend after many, many months of work and prayer. double-yay for God!!
- I did not get frostbite this morning even though I made a poor choice and wore a skirt with no tights.

The aquatic mosh pit

So, now that I'm back to work, I have to find a time to go swimming that isn't the middle of the afternoon. I thought that I'd just stop by after work, swim my laps and then head home for a shower and a quiet night at home. Well, it turns out that at 7:00 on Tuesday evenings, the pool is close to unfit for swimming. Seriously, they turned the lanes around the short way so there were 3.5 (yes, one was really a half) lanes for spurty swimming and the shallow end was roped off for water aerobics. So, there were about 30 severely overweight people lifting waterproof weights to top 40's, aerobics-style, music. Even the instructor was overweight....and I don't mean a little pooch. She was probably 80 pounds overweight. Amy had warned me about the old lady brigade, but this was the shower cap brigade. At one point, I was trying to swim laps in the choppy waters of no-man's-land between the aerobics and the overcrowded lanes when I looked over and cracked up - they all had on shower caps to protect their hair rather than swim caps. So funny. So aggravating and so funny.

Vacation check-in

Well, I just finished day 4 of my vacation. So far, so good. As usual, I can't accomplish quite as many things in each day as I plan, but I'm still accomplishing things.
The living room is now green - it needs another coat, but it's looking good. I've gone swimming thrice and I think this is something I can stick with - yay! Exercise I don't loathe! I've had one career-related meeting and several meetings concerning the event I'm planning. Things are moving right along. (And, I did manage to squeeze a little football-watching in around the edges!)
6 more days of vacation - whoo-hoo!!

Au Revoir, Trader Joe's

I just got home from my last shift at Trader Joe's. I get to reclaim a little more of my time. Now I just need to try find some more creative or more career-related ways to make a little extra cash. Yippee!

The inevitable New Year's Post

Oh, the last day of the year...that day when I get to focus on all that I did NOT accomplish this year. At the beginning of 2006, I posted a few resolutions for the year. They were different than the resolutions of most years... I made things that were achievable, reachable. Well, it turns out that they weren't as achievable as I thought. Here's the year-end status report:
1 - Explore 10 metro stops I've never checked out before. Silver Spring, King Street, Woodley Park, East Falls Church, New York Ave (worth skipping)... I think that's it. So, that's 5. I got a 50% on that.
2 -Read 5 non-fiction books about things I wonder about. I read two. I read a book about the Johnstown flood and a book about Crunchy Conservatism. 40% on this one.
3 - Edit my thesis for publication. Yeah, didn't get anywhere on this one. 0%
4 - Learn a new sport. Again, 0%

So, that's an overall grade of what, 12%? Oh well, that's 12% more than I probably would have accomplished without the goals. However, let's dwell on the positive. Here's what I did accomplish:
1 - I learned a new skill for DC living. I learned to maintain my composure and even keep up when conversations turned to political subjects.
2 - I learned a good bit about event planning, including the fact that I really enjoy doing it.
3 - I landed on my fourth continent - Asia.
4 - I made it through an entire calendar year with one employer...ups and downs marked the ride, but I did it and I'm happy with that.

There's been progress...minimal, but progress nonetheless.
Happy New Year!

Christmas gifts

Ok, so I was reading a friend's blog and she was talking about the gifts she gave which made me want to talk about the gifts I gave. So, Heather, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. I totally stole this from you.
I'm always much more about the gifts I give than the gifts I receive. I mean, don't get me wrong. I get as excited as anybody about a gift card or a well-chosen gift (Thanks, mom, for the slipper shoes - they're awesome), but for me, gifts are all about the giving. I love taking the time to really ponder a great gift for someone. I wish I could say that I did a good job of gift-giving this year, but unfortunately, I was in a major time crunch this fall so my Christmas giving was lackluster at best. And, I did give Amy my mother's gift instead of hers, which she promptly took to Idaho with her. However, I did manage to fit in a few winners. So, without further ado, my list of successful Christmas gifts.
- Taking Mom and Dad to a steakhouse in DC for a really yummy meal that they don't usually treat themselves to. I think that was a winner. They don't say much, but I think they really liked it.
- A good recording of Handel's Messiah for Amy. Amy asked me to borrow mine one day and I realized that I didn't actually own it so I got her a good one... and she's the kind of girl that appreciates it. snazzy.
- Laminated parking instructions for Heinz Field for Tara. You wouldn't think it was so great, but paired with an atlas marked with our road trips and a Steelers car flag, it was a winner.
- a silver "S" necklace for my sis-in-law, Steph. I actually thought I wimped out on this one, but I think she really liked it. She said she'd always wanted one, but never had one. Score.
- a talking pizza cutter for my brother. No, really, I'm serious. Thanks to Tara on this one. It was an impulse buy at Heinz Field on Christmas Eve at her prompting, but it was totally the star of the show. My brother laughed like I remember him laughing ten or fifteen years ago. I love that laugh. That lighthearted spirit is something I love about him. So, if a gift gets that laugh, you're good.
- a book about knots for Jeremy. If you know Jeremy, you know why this is great. Jeremy - have you made me a ladder yet?

So, even though I felt like I didn't get meaningful gifts, I think I still did an okay job in the end. Merry Christmas a little late.

What did you get for Christmas?

Oh, well, thanks for asking. I actually got a spinny bug. What, you ask, is a spinny bug? Well, it's a thing that makes you sick and you feel off-balance for days. On day one, well, you don't want to know about day one... it's gross. On day two, you can have your eyes open as long as your head is supported somewhere and eat small amounts of spinny-approved food. And on day three, you can sit up for limited amounts of time and drink Diet Coke (no really - that's what it said in the manual... honest!) So, that's what I'm doing with my vacation-- a whole lot of nothing!! So much for all of those goals.
What did YOU get for Christmas?