Archive | October, 2013

40 x 40 Challenge: Happy Birthday to Me!

30 Oct

Image sourceL http://cdn.themetapicture.com/media/funny-dog-birthday-cake-sad.jpg

Today is my 39th birthday. That gives me one year before I celebrate the most infamous milestone of midlife. And buy a corvette and get a trophy wife. Oh wait – sorry, women don’t do that. Got confused for a minute!

Seems like a good time for a bit of reflection to reconnect with my friends and family, my curiosity and creativity, and my health. In that spirit, I’ve created my list of “Forty by Forty” – a mini bucket-list to be completed before I turn 40.

Since these need to be done in a year, they’re not the grand items of a life-long bucket list. I’m not trying to see the pyramids or raft the Nile. (Hopefully those happen in the NEXT forty years.)

Because life is good. And it’s often in paying attention to the little things that that we live life most fully. Here goes…

  1. See the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.
  2. Try sushi. I know, I know. I’m the only person in America who doesn’t like sushi. But it’s been ten years since I last attempted it, so I’m going to see if my palette has evolved. 
  3. Attend Nerd Nite DC. I’m a nerd and I’ve always been curious.
  4. Become a certified coach. Already enrolled, so unless I screw up, this should earn a checkmark. 
  5. Take a “Girls Trip” with my mom and sister.
  6. Practice yoga every day for one week. 
  7. Take an official walking tour of DC. I love walking tours. I live in a city that offers them. Why haven’t I done this before? No idea.
  8. Find the doors at the O Street Mansion. 
  9. Explore wine country with Alan. We’ve booked our flight, so this should get a checkmark. 
  10. Completely avoid Diet Dew for one month. Ideally, I’d like to give it up for good. But let’s start with a manageable goal.
  11. Get a library card from the Library of Congress.
  12. Sponsor one classroom project each month on DonorsChoose.
  13. Go Facebook-Silent for two weeks. This one already gives me palpitations, which probably means I’m addicted.
  14. See an exhibit at the Phillips Collection. Unbelievably, I’ve lived here almost two decades and haven’t set foot inside this gallery, only blocks from my place.
  15. Make a Halloween costume.
  16. Find a StoryCorps booth and record a story. Ideally with my dad. 
  17. Get professionally fitted for a bra. No sense giving in to gravity just yet.
  18. Get a new driver’s license. Actually, this is kind of a to-do list item. But still…
  19. See the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
  20. Send one handwritten note of gratitude to someone each month. 
  21. Record a podcast with my friends. Not sure what we’ll do with it, but I’m pretty sure it will be hilarious.
  22. Learn to change my bike’s rear tire. Although I hope I’ll never need to use this. 
  23. Write 50,000 words toward my next novel.
  24. Complete a Century Ride. Preferably with my sister. 
  25. Learn why ziplines are so hyped.
  26. Review the books I read on Amazon. I use other people’s reviews to shape my reading list – time to give back. 
  27. Swim 50 miles. Not all at once. I used to swim all the time, but it’s fallen by the wayside in recent years. Time to jump back in.
  28. Roast an entire chicken. Yep, I consider myself a pretty solid cook, but I’ve never actually cooked an entire bird. WTF?
  29. Compliment a stranger every day for a week. Different strangers… because otherwise that would be creepy.
  30. Volunteer for a cause I care about.
  31. Declutter my friendships. Prioritize the people who make time for me. 
  32. Do an inversion every single day. For non-yogis: this is basically just doing something upside down. Headstand, handstand, shoulder-stand – it’s supposed to be good for your lymph system and your perspective.
  33. Update my resume. Not because I want a new job, but to reflect on my accomplishments.
  34. Help Alan have a good 40th year. 
  35. No candy for a month. Ridiculous that I’m almost forty and still think Skittles count as part of the food pyramid.
  36. Host a scavenger hunt. 
  37. Break a rule. Easier said than done when you’re compulsive and risk-averse.
  38. Provide free sales coaching to someone who tries (poorly) to try to sell me something. 
  39. Contribute to Wikipedia. Not just in a financial sense. Edit an entry. 
  40. Go camping. I used to do it all the time, but haven’t since I got rid of my car. Time to bring it back!

What about you? If you weren’t designing a life-long bucket-list, but rather had to focus on something specific to do during the next year, what would make your list? I’m curious. 

Image Source: Matt Groening - The Simpsons, Fox Television…

PS: Here’s the Donor’s Choose project I just sponsored in New Orleans for October:

Most of our students will be first generation college students. These students don’t get much help from their families in the college planning process. Our students are from the inner city and their needs are many, academic as well as socio-economic. I took over a high school library two years ago that has a fair book selection, but no budget for new books and very few up-to-date books on ACT, college and financial aid, careers and scholarship information. Our library has one up-to-date college guide and one scholarship book that are constantly checked out. I want my students to see all of the possibilities and plan the best future possible. 

Tags: , , , ,

In case you’re looking for extra work. Or a cat.

24 Oct
Unless you want this cat in a box to become a dick in a box, you better feed it.

Unless you want this cat in a box to become a dick in a box, you better feed it.

Alan and I are getting ready to venture to California for vacation. It’s the first time we will both have been out of town together, so we need to get a cat sitter for Miss Moneypenny. Sure, I have friends who would probably help me out, but I don’t want to saddle someone with kitty care for a full week, so I decided to bring in a professional.

Specifically, the professional is a woman named Mike who lives a mile from me and seems to love cats. (Actually, I wrote that sentence before she came over for the intro visit, so I was making a few assumptions, not least of which was that she loves cats. And also that Mike is a woman. As it turns out, Mike confessed to being somewhat allergic to cats, but I remain optimistic that Miss Moneypenny will charm her into some snuggles.)

So at this point, she has come and met Miss Moneypenny, and I think they’ll get along well enough. I mean, Miss Moneypenny is a cat and Mike will be feeding her. For most cats, that’s enough, right? Cross your fingers, because I don’t want to come home to any revenge pee.

Anyway, I jotted down some notes from my conversation with Mike, in case YOU ever want to catsit Miss Moneypenny. Here are the highlights:

So this is Miss Moneypenny. But you can call her whatever you want because she doesn’t really respond to her name. 

She likes to play with this rainbow toy, and this feather toy – but don’t tug too hard when she has it in her mouth because I’m scared you might rip her tooth out. 

Here’s her litterbox. I scoop it in the morning and the evening so that my place doesn’t smell like cat shit. And please go straight to the garbage chute down the hall and throw it away so it doesn’t sit in my trash can.  Also – this Swiffer duster is so you can sweep any random dots of litter back to the box so it doesn’t get tracked around my place.

And here’s her food area. She gets this hairball control dry food, with a bit of this protein kibble sprinkled on top for kicks. And this dish here is for her wet food, which she gets twice each day. A few things on that – and this probably sounds OCD, but it’s why I’m paying you instead of just leaving a pile of food out for her…

Please recover the tin of food using this piece of saranwrap and rubberband between meals rather than using a new piece of saranwrap each day. When you finish a tin, please rinse it out so I can recycle it. And you’ll need to add water to the food, stirring it until it’s the texture of runny refried beans. She likes it that way. Oh – and please only use THESE forks. I don’t like anything that touches human food to touch cat food. 

When you get here, she’ll probably be excited to see you, so if she runs toward my bedroom, it means she’s going to flop down on the rug and roll around so you can pet her.

And I forgot to tell you… she is very talkative, so be sure to ask her lots of questions. She’ll answer you, but her response always sounds like she’s saying, “No,” or, “Now,” so you’ll probably want to come up with questions that work with those responses. Unless you want to sound crazy. 

Image Source: https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/863968512/h1B9DBF01/

PS: When I just spell-checked this, here’s what WordPress accused me of misspelling: rubberband, refried, kibble and chute. I’ll admit, chute made my scratch my head. But then I remembered “Chutes & Ladders” and knew that I was still smarter than my computer. For now.

Tags: , , , ,

Hear ye, hear ye. Tips for the renaissance.

21 Oct

We took Alan’s son to the Maryland Renaissance Festival this weekend. It’s an event I approach each year with equal parts curiosity and trepidation, mainly because I’m not into pretending that I live in any century other than this one and I find it troubling when other adults try to speak to me in fake accents.

What I do love about the festival is my chance to unabashedly watch people. I mean, they come out looking for an audience, so it’s totally fine to stare with my mouth hanging open, right?

In case you’ve never attended a Renn Fest, here’s a quick primer so you know what to expect:

1. Aside from the people who are “formal players” in the script, most attendees just aren’t that concerned with the accuracy of their costumes. At least I assume not, since I don’t remember fairies, pixies, dinosaurs, Jedis, and Yoda featuring prominently in the Middle Ages.

So if you have a great Halloween costume you’d like to get more mileage out of, wear it. Don’t worry if it has nothing to do with the Renaissance. Want to dress like you’re from Minecraft? Do it. Or a pervy clown? Fair game.

For example, what was THIS GUY all about? I don’t think any of my renaissance readings featured a creepy, half-man/half-baby, stilted jester. 

Creepy, any way you cut it.

Creepy, any way you cut it.

2. There is either a LOT of bad cleavage in this world, or the women with bad cleavage are attracted to Renaissance festivals. I saw so many huge, dimpled and jiggly breasts, I have a newfound pity for mammographers. If you like showing off your breasts, this is your event. Embrace your inner-wench. If that’s not your thing, then brace yourself for having to tolerate others.

(While we’re on the topic of breasts: I’m all for breast-feeding your infant, and I don’t mind if you do it in public, provided you make a little effort so I don’t have to look at your nipple. But I think most people would agree when I say that if you can do it hands-free, standing up with your child strapped to your chest and your breast fully exposed, while shopping for pixie wings, you’ve crossed a line.)

Image Source: http://assets.vice.com/content-images/contentimage/no-slug/bfa4223261f5067fb1312cb7bf84dabf.jpg

Look Ma, no hands!

3. The little kids at the festival are either cuter than average, or – thanks to the principle of relativity – they just seemed that way because the adults were so odd. Regardless, I especially liked the little kid riding around on his dad’s shoulders in a fuzzy dinosaur costume, and the toddler who stood looking down at her feet in confusion, unable to walk because she’d somehow managed to velcro her shoes together. If you’d like to find your own child cute for even just a day, take him or her to Renn Fest.

4. Never volunteer to be a piece in a game of Human Chess. You’ll quickly feel like this:

Image Source: http://www.funnyfidos.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/funny-dog-picture-rather-be-chasing-cars.jpg

5. A hint for the women who think it’s going to be awesome to wear a big dress with a crinoline to make it fluffy: your only bathroom option will be a port-a-potty.  I saw more than one woman in a large dress emerge from the over-sized handicap potty to ask the “bathroom attendant” to check her dress. Um… pretty sure you need to burn it when you get home. Or sooner, if you’re planning to eat anything.

6. Speaking of eating? Along with people-watching, that may be one of your highlights from the festival. Don’t skimp on the steak on a stake, turkey legs, or beer.

That’s it. Otherwise, go forth and be merry. You might not actually feel transported to the sixteenth century, but you will definitely know that you’re in a special place. Embrace it.

Tags: , ,

What do cops, donuts, politicians and toilets have in common?

15 Oct

Hint: there are probably many correct answers.

It’s only Tuesday, and already, this happened:

Pretty amazing collection from GBD, you must admit.

Pretty amazing collection from GBD, you must admit. Potentially worth burning for?

Which is not to suggest that donuts are a bad thing, or that I fell off my non-existent diet or something. No. These donuts? Demonstrated my office’s priorities. Let me explain.

Since I work in DC, most of the city – including our building – was shut-down for Columbus Day yesterday. But because my company is in the business of finding people work, we didn’t take the day off.  (Maybe the government could take a page from our book and the economy wouldn’t be in the toilet?)

We showed up to a darkened building, And yet we turned our lights on.

All was cool, until around noon, when the fire alarm went off – at approximately 4,000,000 decibels and accompanied by an eerie robot voice telling us to “leave our belongings and exit the building.”

We all looked at each other, balancing the competing concern of, “Do I really need to put my shoes on and leave my desk right now?” with, “Well, we do work two blocks from the White House, so maybe there really is an emergency requiring evacuation?”

And yet… as we all shuffled out the door, one of my co-workers called back, “Don’t forget the donuts!”

And as if we were moving in slow motion (probably because we were), another co-worker (whose new nickname is, “Hero”), turned around and ran back for that box of delicious pastries.

Because in case you didn’t study that photo closely, two of those mofo’s were covered in bacon. And that is worth dying for.

PRIORITIES. TRUE STORY.

Also, even before that box of donuts was rescued from a false alarm, this happened:

Hint: You're not doing it right.

Hint: You’re not doing it right.

That’s right. I went to the bathroom on a day when almost no one was at work and I found a stall out of commission. Because it was covered not by one toilet liner, but by four, folded in some crazy-ass way and lining each side of the toilet as if it were a pontoon boat. Seriously. It was so messed up I walked back to the office to get my camera to take this photo.

The good news is that later in the day, we FINALLY figured out who the seat pee-er is. I have to give credit to my friend Courtney, whose SpideySense was activated when a pink ballet flat poked into her stall in a way that indicated someone was squatting rather than sitting. Courtney emerged from the stall just as her stall-neighbor finished washing her hands and darted out of the bathroom.

With instincts to rival Sherlock, Courtney investigated the recently evacuated stall… only to find pee on the seat and an unflushed toilet.

CITIZEN’S ARREST.

It hasn’t happened yet, but here’s how that gentle conversation is going to go, now the we all know the culprit works one suite over and wears pink ballet flats:

US: Have you noticed someone keeps peeing on the seat and not cleaning it up?

HER, looking uncomfortable: Yeah – so disgusting!?

US: We’ve narrowed it down and are pretty sure we know who’s doing it.

HER, looking mildly panicked: Who? How do you know?

US: We have our ways. Signs track back to your office, so could you be our ambassador and talk with all the ladies there to let them know we’re close to a breakthrough so they can stop before we have to embarrass them?

HER: Gulp.

US: That’s right.

And – my Columbus Day wouldn’t be complete without a political tie-in of some sort, so then THIS happened as I was commuting:

Look! It's Uncle Joe!

Look! Blurry, but it’s Uncle Joe!

Yep. Hustling down Connecticut Ave on my way to get a massage, I noticed a crowd of people forming outside Brooks Brothers, and a security detail that was impressive yet not full-on presidential.

I stopped to ask an on-looker who they were waiting to see emerge from the store, and just at that moment, the police cleared the sidewalk, a few Secret Service guys came out of the store looking stern and self-important, and then out came Joe Biden, huge grin and no shopping bag.

He waved and smiled and – instead of making a beeline for his car (as I would do if my shopping spree had proven unsuccessful) he took a minute to shake hands and chat with the onlookers.

Whew. It was quite the day: Donuts, police… Toilets, politicians… Who would imagine seeing all these disparate things in just one day? It’s almost like they go together.

Tags: , , , , ,

If I weigh a thousand pounds…

14 Oct

Image Source: uselesshumor.com

…the next time you see me, it’s probably because my garbage disposal is broken.

I know, the correlation seems a bit weak initially, but when you step back, you’ll realize: a broken garbage disposal means a kitchen sink that won’t work, which means that a dishwasher won’t work, which means there’s no cooking until the garbage disposal is fixed, which means there’s a week of eating out until it is repaired, which is why I’ll soon need to shop for muumuus.

For the most part, I don’t put much down the disposal. I usually just run it when I rinse out my sink. As a result, it’s one of those “appliances” I’ve given little thought – until it broke.

Image Source: http://themetapicture.com/every-time-i-use-the-garbage-disposal/Now it seems like my life revolves around that disposal, because any time I dirty a dish, I have to wash it in my bathroom sink. Gross.

As someone who maintains her own version of a kosher kitchen (ie. items that touch cat food don’t touch human food; the cat is not allowed to lick anything that will ever hold human food; napkins don’t get washed with other laundry; etc.) it’s been a bit disturbing to rinse dishes while eyeing a toilet. Trust me when I say there’s been a lot of disinfecting going on.

It started last Tuesday as I prepped dinner: crab cakes with sauteed spinach. All was good, until I rinsed the sink, ran the disposal, and it simply made a “clunk” noise as the circuit breaker tripped. I reset it and tried again: with no luck.

About this time, Alan showed up. “We have a problem,” I said, greeting him at the door. I’m sure those are the exact words he likes to hear after spending a 12-hour day navigating the strong personalities at a high profile law firm. To his credit, after surveying the situation, he asked for a baster and began removing the standing water from my sink. (Pretty much a saint.)

Unfortunately, that’s about as much progress as we made that night, and I found myself wiping out the dinner dishes with paper towels so I could wash them in my bathroom sink without putting any food debris down that drain.

The next day I posted to Facebook, asking for recommendations of a plumber/electrician who could diagnose a faulty disposal and repair it. (Only in DC would one of the responses be from a friend nominating her husband, a furloughed NASA astrophysicist with a bit of time on his hands!)

Within 24 hours, I had an electrician out checking the circuit. Turns out, it wasn’t the problem – the disposal was. Since I would have to wait almost another week before a plumber could come out to replace it, Alan and I decided to attempt it ourselves.

Alan’s done this procedure before – more than once – so it seemed like a no-brainer… Until he had everything disconnected and went to unscrew the cuffs that attached the disposal to the sink. To say they were stuck is like saying Paula Dean likes butter. I’m pretty sure they had fused together, bound by a unique DC combination of lead and lyme.

Alan tried everything. Double wrenches, pliers, hammer, screwdriver. There was lots of pounding and lots of swearing. I sat by, googling to see if other people had struggled with this phase of the project. Turns out, we weren’t alone. And in many cases, the solution involved CUTTING the metal ring out. Needless to say, I don’t have the tools for that.

Finally, after futzing with it for over an hour, we decided to wait and let the plumber sort it out. The only issue was that with the pipes and hoses disconnected, it now smelled like a compost pile under my sink. So I stuffed paper towels in all the openings, sprayed some Mrs. Meyers lavender disinfectant everywhere, and left an open box of baking soda siting there.

Oh, and I put a grocery bag over the faucet to remind myself not to accidentally run water. Which is a surprisingly difficult habit to break.

So now we wait for the plumber, and I kick myself for not executing the brilliant invention idea I came up with almost a year ago: a bathtub garbage disposal.

Although, with my luck, it would’ve also broken and I’d not only be washing dishes in my bathroom sink, but also be reduced to giving myself sponge baths. Guess I’ll count my blessings.

Image Source: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1180315/thumbs/o-BUNNY-BATH-SINK-facebook.jpg

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries