Challenge: packing light

There are lots of challenges to be faced in life, but my latest challenge is a pretty easy one: learn how to pack light.  Specifically, bring only one backpack (a small hiking backpack) on my trip to DC this weekend.

When I went to DC in February, I had a busy little schedule, and me being me, I decided this required me to bring a ridiculous number of outfits, and ended up bringing down the same said backpack and a large duffel bag, both pretty stuffed.

I always run into issues with packing because I way overpack and bring too many clothes because I like to have options, and I always seem to forget that I usually just prefer to wear jeans or sweatpants.  But no, that doesn't stop me from bringing dresses (unlikely to wear), sweaters (will live in my hoodie for the weekend), shoes to go with said fabulous outfits (who brings 4 different pairs of shoes for a weekend trip...oh that's right, I do, and I'm not even running no), long sleeve shirts (in case it gets cold), and I'm pretty sure you see where this is going.

And this is to say nothing about my chronic overpacking as it relates strictly to underwear.  No matter what trip I go on, I do my best to bring underwear numbering 3 times the number of days I'm gone.  So for this trip, I'll be there basically 3 days, so that's 9 pairs of underwear + a couple extra just in case.  I went on a work trip this week and didn't do that (was trying to pack light), and it totally backfired, so I'm never doing that again.  3x underwear it is.

In the future I may have to travel a lot more, so it's probably best to get learn how to pack less, but it is going to be a challenge for sure.

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spending time with an Emperor

This week I've been spending as much time with Claudius as I can, because I won't get to see him much over the next week or so, and maybe even less than that.  So naturally that means I've been ODing on taking pictures of him, and spending extra time with him cuddling and snuggling whenever he wants (and I can manage).

For example, just yesterday, I knew I didn't have meetings until the afternoon, so we stayed up late the night before that watching all of Guys and Dolls (totally his choice, not mine), and snuggled in bed in the morning until 10 AM.  After he went outside and did his business, he came back inside for some more napping, and then I ambushed him to floss and brush his teeth (don't ask) around 12:45.  We played for about 45 minutes, and then it was afternoon nap time.  Must be nice to be a dog!!

Anyway, here's some recent pictures of him.

Flanked by some of his minions, Mr. Bear and Mr. Rabbit (light colored)

Bundled up in his rain jacket after a rainy walk home from daycare 

Attacking his pyramid of Boodas 

 Success!  Demolishing a field of Boodas!

Tired from all of the napping

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a little update

It would appear that unless I have some kind of goal (a la January), this little blog gets neglected in terms of updates.  Or maybe there's just nothing really that exciting going on.  Most likely the latter, but a little bit of the former.  Anyhow, a couple weekends ago, we did do some fun stuff, so I thought I'd share.

Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) is currently on Broadway in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying".  We were able to get discounted orchestra tickets through some special offer, so we were able to go and see a preview show (actual show opening is March 27th).  It was a really great show - Daniel Radcliffe is super cute, and I totally want him to be my best friend, no lie.  John Larroquette is also in it (he's someone famous, but I don't really know who he is).

This is not a musical I was familiar with, but I liked it a lot.  Marek also liked it a lot - he said it was a lot funnier than he thought it would be.  It was a very nice production, and there were some very funny moments (especially a fight song-like number performed by Radcliffe and Larroquette).  Highly recommended if you can get down there to see it.  We are already planning to go see it again!

After the show, we walked (I hobbled) back to the subway, and I think we were in Grand Central (who knows), and we saw these belt buckles at RAG.  I told Marek if he was nice, I would buy him one, haha.

On Sunday we eschewed our recent tradition of Le Pain Quotidien and a movie and met up with Chris in Brooklyn.  He met us at the subway station, and then we drove to Red Robin out in New Jersey.  It took as awhile to get there, but it was nice to be back in suburbia again.  With REAL strip malls, and chain restaurants, and giant shopping centers.  It was really awesome.  We went to a Target (or any big store), and no one checked my receipt.

At Red Robin we were celebrating some happy news for me, and just enjoying seeing Chris.  He is studying down in Brooklyn, and we try to see him as often as we can.  I'd say we average about once a month at the moment.  It's always great to see Chris.

Mmmmm, Very Berry Raspberry Limeade...my favorite Red Robin drink!  Best enjoyed with some garlic parmesan fries (extra garlic! extra parmesan!)

Here I am with the future friar.  He told me that the beard will be going away soon, so was glad we got a picture of the winter beard!

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Lent and the art of sacrificing

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which makes today Fat Tuesday, the last day to get anything bad out of your system if you're a good Catholic and care about that stuff (or if you're a "good" Catholic who pretends to care about that stuff).  Lent starts tomorrow, which means The Rules are back in full effect!  Years ago the Church got rid of a lot of the more strict rules that governed a Catholic's life, but some of them pop back up around Lent.  You will find a good many of the "old school" Catholics who still observe these rules year-round, whether consciously or somewhat subconsciously out of habit (Marek's grandmother and my grandparents being among that group).

From tomorrow until Easter, "adult" Catholics are supposed to fast on Fridays, with one meatless meal (read: FISH FOR DINNER).  We are also supposed to fast tomorrow and on Good Friday.  Maybe Holy Thursday, too - I don't really know.

Traditionally Catholics give something up for Lent.  The idea is to make some kind of sacrifice - give up something or do something that will be a bit of a challenge.  I don't think you're really supposed to pick something that will be super easy.  This year I thought about what to give up, and I narrowed it down to alcohol, soda, chocolate/candy/cookies, and french fries.  Alcohol and soda were a little too easy, and I don't think I'm ready for the challenge chocolate/candy/cookies would pose (looking at you, Snickers bars and Milano cookies and Girl Scouts in my fridge), so I settled on french fries.  I'll also be giving up other similar crunchy fried foods (chicken cutlets, onion rings, potato chips, tortilla chips - but NOT donuts).

It will be tough (for me - I love french fries!!!!), but I think it was a good choice for what to give up for Lent.  Plus it is healthier, so that's a nice bonus.

A certain someone, on the other hand, has other ideas...

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Working from home: the good and the bad

As many of you know, my job is a work-from-home position.  In my previous job, I was allowed to work from home twice a week, so got used to the home office environment.  My current job is work-from-home only - I don't have an office to go to, and the picture above is my little "office" during the week.  When we lived in Massachusetts, we had an actual home office, but since our space in NYC was reduced to about a third of our space in Mass, I get this little corner, and as you can see, we crammed as much stuff as possible in to it.

Some people really like working from home and some people don't, so having had a couple different work-at-home experiences, I thought I'd tell you what the good and bad things are, from my perspective.

Bad Things

• I can go days without interacting with anyone besides Marek and my dog.
• It's easy to go to stir crazy, working and living in the same place.
• My dog is the only "person" I can talk to all day, so sometimes I think I'm going crazy.
• I oftentimes have no idea what day it is.
• It's too easy to eat whatever I want all day long.

Good Things

• It's easy to get things done around the house.  This was especially true when we had laundry in the apartment.
• I get to spend the whole day with my dog, watching him do cute things (mostly sleeping - although today I took his bone away from him and chided him for being a fatty and a peanut butter addict, then I put the bone out of reach and watched while he looked at it longingly).
• I can get up at 8:59 for a 9:00 meeting.
• No commute, which equals more free time!
• I get to work in really comfortable clothes and don't have to maintain a separate work wardrobe.
• Sitting on the couch is really comfortable.
• I can listen to my music over the speakers or even have the TV on as background noise.
• Lots of different food options if I get a craving for something.
• Flexible working schedule (varies depending on your job/arrangement, but mine is very flexible).
• I can go on runs at lunchtime and not worry about being all sweaty at the office or taking a shower at work (both gross options).

Overall, I think the good things far outweigh the bad.  I will say working at home was a little easier when I actually knew (i.e., met in person) the people I was working with, because then I could at least associate names with faces.  I liked a mix the best - it was nice to be in the office occasionally, especially for the socialization aspect, but it was also really nice to work at home and avoid the commute and have some extra time!

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Hyannis Half Marathon Recap

Last weekend we went home for the Hyannis Half Marathon.  I'll be honest - I was kind of dreading it.  I knew I hadn't trained as much as I should have, and was really worried about my IT Band and hip acting up.  It started snowing lightly on Saturday night and they were forecasting snow for the area where my parents live as well as Hyannis, so a little part of me was hoping that maybe it'd be snowing too bad to make the drive down, but the roads were fine, and in the end I was glad we went, because I would have felt really bad if I didn't go just because of the weather.

The event itself was a little bit disorganized.  Due to the nature of the Cape, there's not huge places with tons and tons of parking, and the organizers didn't let you know that if you were coming down the morning of that there was going to be nowhere to park.  Marek and I first tried to get to the conference center, but it was blocked off, so we ended up parking on the grass wherever we could find room.

Getting to the bib pick-up was a nightmare.  There were no signs or anything, and because of the weather, it was just mobbed inside.  Everywhere there were lines for the bathroom, and we had to push and shove our way through crowds to get to the other side of the conference center to get our bibs.  They hung up an Excel printout on the wall and you had to look up your own number, but they put the  numbers high up (thanks a lot!) and in the corner, so it was a huge mess.

Once we had our numbers (and our t-shirts!!!), it was time to wait in line for the bathroom.  There were huge lines inside as I've already said, and huge lines outside for the Port-a-Potties.  I decided to try waiting, but then I heard them saying that there were only 10 minutes until the start.  What to do, what to do.  I saw a bunch of guys running over to some bushes, so I figured what the heck.  I ran over to the bushes too.  Another girl saw me (she was heading to the bushes too), and said, "Great idea, right?"  Of course I had to hunt around for an area that was kind of hidden from view, and Marek blocked the rest of me.  It was good to go beforehand though.  There were still people standing in line when we started.

The race was promoted as a "mostly flat, gently rolling" course.  The "mostly flat" part was a big lie, but the Cape scenery by the beaches was very pretty.  There were stretches where it was flat, but enough hills to qualify it as NOT "mostly flat".  Good for the butt, but not good for IT Bands that slacked on training!  My hip started acting up around mile 8, and my IT band reared its ugly head around mile 10, which resulted in my walking-running the last couple of miles.  

That being said, according to my watch, I finished just under my Boston time (so new PR), but the official results say otherwise.  So even though I didn't make my goal time, I think I would have been very close without the leg issues, so that's good enough for me!  I'll have to readjust my goal times for my races this year, but I think I will be able to hit my Hyannis goal in Indy!  

Marek finished in under 2 hours, which was his goal, and he was very happy about that.  He met me at the finish line and we grabbed a bunch of free protein drinks and then drove home!  We were glad we went in the end, because I would have been pretty disappointed in myself if I had wimped out and not gone.

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Claudius eating pizza

At least I know where his Winter Pudge is coming from. :)

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