Flowers...

(hee hee)

Nifty...ow.

.
In the interest of trying to minimize the joint-creaking pain incurred by sitting in front of a computer for waaay too many hours every day, I finally blew up my exercise ball. It was free, lest you think I've gone COMPLETELY off my rocker, and I tried to use it today instead of my regular office chair. I've heard that if you sit on the ball instead of a chair, you basically use your abs, back, and leg muscles all day to keep yourself balanced, and it's generally healthier than a chair. Yay! Healthier SITTING! I love America.

So today I tried this modern wonder of fitness, and blew up my yoga/fitness ball. And sat on it.

I'm too low on my desk and the edge is cutting into my arm and my fingers get tingly and my shoulders hurt from shrugging for the last 7 hours to try to reach the pooter. And my hips, knees and ankles hurt? Why is that?

Answer: I'm getting old.

/cry

The only plus side is that while i've been brainstorming I've been doing situps on the ball. Result: Realizing that not only am I old, but in pathetic shape.

Deflating ball. Going back to chair now.
.

Looking back...forward...eh...yea...

.
Hello! Wow it's friggin' hot. But fortunately, Con Ed hasn't let the Big Apple down (except for a few spots in Brooklyn last night), and the 103 degree heat hasn't overloaded my cheap-o Wal Mart air conditioning unit either. I guess that's one real perk to having only 420 square feet of living space... the AC doesn't have to work that hard to keep up.

Nothing really brilliantly new has happened in life, except that the old dishwasher is gone, and the shelves are...being installed. How is it possible that I'm *that* excited about shelves? HA! Actually, it's not just the shelves, but life in general that's getting better. I am still working on moving out of "hermit" life... but so far, I've signed up for two classes, made a date or two (gasp), learning that the right kind (and number) of tequila shots doesn't have to hurt too badly, and am generally doing okee doke. I do spend far too much time staring at a computer screen in a given day, but that may change soon, and at least the chinese takeout happens much less frequently these days. My sodium levels may return to normal by 2012.

I won't get into what the title of this email means...not yet, anyway. Let's just say that Saturday night has potential.
.

Hello again...

.
It's been a while, I know...(holy crap, is it really June already?) but when I sum up the last few months of life, it seems rather overwhelming. I've moved (twice), renovated my kitchen, and started a new job. So while I don't like to make excuses, I like to think of these as "reasons" for my lack of blogging lately.

Most generic peeps prolly won't care what's going on. But in case you do, here's the dealio (starting with the fun stuff!)

Spent a week in Honduras diving again. If you recall last year, my friend Dani and I spent one week in a hut watching torrential downpours while longing for sunny weather. We got a lot of reading done, but not so much diving. So we called a "mulligan" for this year, and went back to the same resort for a week in April. And it was PERFECT. I checked off a few very high-ranking items on my "to do before I'm dead" list, including diving with sharks (freakin' awesome) and diving with dolphins (equally freakin' awesome, but with a less terrifying bent.)

Some photos:

Gotta give credit to Dani for most of these photos. She seemed to have a lot more patience for toting around the underwater camera than I did. But all in all, it was a perfect dive week (there were even cute boys to hang out with this time...a nice perk). Now, we're trying to decide on our dive destination for next year...Indonesia, maybe? We'll see...

In more local news, I've moved back into the city - into an apartment that is approximately 50 feet from my old apartment. Still deciding whether or not that was a good idea or not - to live so close to my "old life" - but so far, I have to sayt that it seems to be workout out OK. I realized, however, that I've never actually lived alone in my life, so it's been a learning experience, to say the least. Gone are the days of "you cook, I'll clean"...and who would have thought that a mere 420 square feet could need so much work? Besides the dishwasher (which is being removed on Monday, after leaking all over the floor, twice, and being replaced with more storage drawers), the renovations have gone well, and I'm not living out of boxes any more. Next up is the bathroom, which needs to be gutted. That means moving out for a week while they work on it... don't tell my sister, but I'll probably have to borrow her spare bedroom again for a while.

The new job is fine, but working from home definitely has its challenges. I've worked into a nice rhythm, but for the first few months, I found myself working in my pajamas far too often. It sounds tempting, until you realize that by the time you realize you're still in your pajamas, it's time to get back into them again. Hmmm. I have to say that daily functioning is much easier now that my wardrobe is in an actual closet. Opening up a wardrobe box after having your clothes in storage for the better part of a year was like shopping at a store where everything is free, everything fits, and everything is something you like. Now that's my kind of shopping.

Getting really superficial, I dyed my hair red (another "list" thing), and I have to say - it's so much fun. I don't know how much patience I'll have for touchups and the pricetags of a hair coloring habit, but for now, it's friggin' awesome. I feel like a totally new person, and I have to say, I like it.

More news later...
.