I can't believe it's only Tuesday

With two and a half hours still left as Tuesday, this week has gotten off to an eventful start.

Let me just first say, I'm fine. Read on if you're interested in the narrative version.

Everyone knows I'm a perfectionist (even if not perfect), and this tendency carries over into all facets of my life. From a work perspective, it means I often willingly take on more than I should, and sometimes I will take extra time to complete something just so it has the finishing touches, even if it would have been fine as is. Regardless, it translates into a little workaholicism at times, and I fully cop to that. This also makes it hard for me to step away at times.

My team is gearing up for another big announcement, and I'm helping lead out on it. We're under tight deadlines to write and get approvals on all the content, materials and positioning, so there's no time to waste. Going home at 5:30 isn't really an option right now, and I'm ok with that since it's a cyclic business. As long as I'm on my game.

Yesterday, around 5:00, I started to lose the feeling in my right arm. It went tingly, not like it's asleep - a little lighter than that - but it stretched from my shoulder to my finger tips. With several family or friend health emergencies already this year, it quickly occurred to me that I could be experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke. It also occurred to me that I could be overreacting to a pinched nerve or something...after all, I'm only 27 and I've been typing for 10-12 hours/day at work for a while (not to mention no the blog at home - what am I doing on the computer?).

After about 30 minutes, what do I do? Well, first I took an aspirin, just in case. Then I called my mother who is 2,000 miles away and could do nothing for me. She is a medical professional, however, so I was expecting her to say "oh yeah, that has happened to me/some of our customers from time to time." She didn't say that. Though she rattled off other symptoms - and luckily I was experiencing none of those - she recommended I get this checked out, and soon.

So by now it's 5:45...doctors' offices are closed, and urgent treatment facilities tell you not to come if you think it's a life-threatening emergency (and who knew?), so I asked my friend and co-worker Camille to drive my car to the hospital just in case I started to feel worse along the way.

Meantime, I called my boss to let her know I didn't drop off the face of the earth, but that I was actually putting my health before work. Some of you are probably thinking "duh," but other perfectionists may be able to relate the feeling of "I'll just get this one more thing done." Needless to say, she told me to take care of myself and to forget about work of all things.

I'm proud to say I did just that. Brian met us in the ER, which was very comforting and relaxed me quite a bit. This is good, since we of course had to wait a while to be seen because I appeared to be the most normal person in the waiting room. Eventually, they took me back, ran my blood pressure (elevated for me, but still below 120/80) and took an EKG just to be sure.

And apparently I have a VERY strong heart - my pulse is in the 50's. Now I don't want to brag about what a good walker I am (sarcasm here), but apparently this is well below the average person's (60's or 70's according to our doc). He said only marathon runners other really intense athletes might have heart rates in the 40's. I certainly haven't trained for any triathlons lately, but I'm grateful for my healthy heart.

So what did I have? Something called peripheral neuropathy - a condition affecting the nerves in the arms or legs, causing a change in physical feeling or sometimes weaknesses in the muscles. Yep, that's it. The good news is the numbness subsided after a few hours, and everything seems to be fine today. It was just scary for my family and me to think - even for a few hours - that something could have been wrong.

For once, I'm glad I was wrong.

P.S. Brian also finally received his official birth certificate from the State of New Jersey, so he can continue on his quest for a passport!

Another beautiful weekend

The weather has been awesome here once again. Not very April, to tell you the truth, but I'm not complaining. Long walks, sitting on the balcony, just enjoying the breeze...ahhh.

Check out the flowers I got last weekend and our beautiful view. Hope it's this nice for our Derby party next weekend.

Crows are stalking me

Here's the consensus: the crow that attacked me was simply seeking revenge for my many transgressions against birds. From once trying to kick a pigeon on Polk Street (maybe not the nicest thing I ever did, but it got out of the way before I made contact, which is all I really wanted anyway) to blogging about how I would have left the parrot on the island just days before, I am now concerned that birds are out to get me.

My fears were validated when in Walgreen's today, I spotted a candy I have never seen before in my entire life.

I kid you not. Coincidence? I don't think so...

Fowl Foul

The nastiest thing happened to me today while I was walking and talking to my mom. All of the sudden, something grabbed me by my hair and I freaked out from fear. I turned around to look and a CROW had landed on my head and tried to nest. Imagine someone sticking a branch in your hair and swirling it around multiple times...

...And then realizing it was a dirty bird. (See Saturday's post for my feelings on birds in general). Not just a bird. A gross, oily crow. Their feathers shine in the sun, and that cannot be good.

The worst part is I screamed bloody murder on the phone, which in turn scared my mom. She knew I was walking, and she thought initially a dog had bitten me because apparently it sounded like I was in pain. And I was...mentally.

Who knows how many people saw this mess. I didn't see anyone staring, but come on. Someone was definitely laughing at my expense. Please let me know if I show up on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Needless to say, I came home and showered IMMEDIATELY. I also lathered, rinsed and repeated. Crow heads can never be too safe.

In honor of this post, I direct you to my latest poll (right). Ugh.

Snickers the Sea Dog

How could you not love this face?

What I want to know more is how someone could possibly leave this sweet baby stranded on an island! He was out at sail with his owners and their other pet, a macaw, when the catamaran had difficulties. When their sailboat reached shore about 1,000 miles outside Hawaii, they left their dog behind when they hitched a ride. I could not believe it. Seriously, I would not care, I would never leave my dog behind. (Perhaps the bird, not really a bird person, but that's beside the point).

Luckily for Snickers the Sea Dog, it looks like he'll probably be adopted by an animal lover who lives in Las Vegas. Apparently the family that DITCHED him has "moved on." I wish we could have adopted him!

Read the full article here.

Muni Madness

As I was writing last night's blog post, it occurred to me that I have never really written about my experiences on Muni. The Watts, the Neals, and others who live in metropolitan areas have likely experienced how gross people can get on public transportation.

Top 5 grossest (if that's not a word it should be) things that have happened to me on Muni

1. Remember how I said I strategically select a seat in the back that means only one person can sit by me? Imagine that woman openly burping on and off for about 20 minutes. UGH.

2. My bus goes through Chinatown, so pink bags full of fish or other perishables are the norm. One day this guy got on with noodles. Guess where he sat? That one seat. Not only did he slurp every single noodle, he also proceeded to spit the seeds of the olives in the noodles on the floor of the bus. Like he's eating peanuts at Logan's Roadhouse and it's ok to throw the shells on the floor. Oh no, he put them in his mouth and spit them out. Slurrrrrrrrrrrrp.

3. I'm all about keeping up a manicure and filing your nails. But I'm sorry, I don't want to see your dead skin cells fall off into dust on the floor. Please stop.

4. Once on our way to dinner in North Beach, Brian and I chose not to sit in the way back, and it came to bite us! We had to sit across from this old lady who kept digging into her food (now forgotten) with her whole hand, then shoveled it into her mouth. It might be funny when your friend acts like Zilla at home. It is not funny - or appetizing - to watch it on the bus.

5. I sat in a big loogie. Enough said.

Addiction affliction

Inspirational author Catherine Pulsifer said, "There are two types of habits: ones which comfort us, and ones which would be a comfort if we stopped."

As someone who is in an ongoing quest to improve myself and my surroundings, this quote really rings true. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. Relatively recent good habits include regularly taking my own bags to the grocery store, drinking filtered tap from reusable containers (rather than plastic water bottles) and prioritizing fun things over tasks (ok, not always, but see yesterday's post). And certainly some habits are comforting in their very essence: Reading before I go to bed, cracking my knuckles to bug my mother, and sitting in the back of the bus where only one other person can possibly touch me. You get the idea.

So recently I was taking stock of my life, which includes habits I know I can do without. Luckily I don't have any serious problems like drugs or alcohol. But I figured if I write about my misgivings here, where everyone can read them and hold me accountable, I might be more likely to cut the bad habits out of my life and turn my energy towards more positive endeavors.

First up? Diet Coke. Please don't laugh because I'm serious and I'm actually doing really well. I've been reading more and more about how the artificial sweeteners in things like Diet Coke can trick the body into thinking you're actually consuming fewer calories than you really are, which causes some to eat more, and then gain wait. Think about all the times you've had fast food, pizza, or anything unhealthy with a side of Diet Coke. It cannot be good. Even though the jury's still out, common sense tells me any artificial foods probably aren't that good for me. Status: Going well. Those who knew me in college or my reporting days might remember when I religiously drank 3-4 Diet Cokes a day. I'm proud to report that I only had 2 last week, and 1 so far this week (I treated myself on Sunday). Not bad I'd say!

Next? Wheat Thins. Yes, again I am serious. Maybe I'm a fool to believe that cutting out foods like Wheat Thins helped Jamie Lee Curtis drop about 20 pounds. And no, before you read between the lines I'm not obsessed with losing weight, but again with the artificial foods thing... Reduced fat WTs are highly processed, and they can't be good for you or make you thin. Timeline: Once I nail the Diet Coke thing. Hopefully I can start on weeding out WTs by Mothers' Day.

After that? Stressing about the little things. This one really has me worried (LOL). Timeline: Not in this lifetime!

What a weekend

If you have talked to me at all since Friday, you know that the weather out here was AWESOME this weekend. It was like a San Francisco fall - sunny, warm, and amazingly clear. Rather than putting on my weekend taskmaster hat, I decided instead to make the most of this unbelieveable, it-only-gets into-the-80s-a-few-times-a-year weather by lying out on the beach (Marina/near Chrissy field) on Saturday and our balcony on Sunday. It was so hot Sunday that I turned the fan on me while I was outside. Not the greenest thing I did all weekend, but we did try to reduce our carbon footprint by walking to and from the beach, as well as to and from dinner Saturday night.

For Brian, the weekend held another baseball game - this time with the official uniforms! Pretty cute, huh?

Baseball season has given Brian the incentive to get contacts. In addition to his shoulder, ankle and toe, his eyes are also apparently failing him. Thing is, his eyes are set pretty far back into his head, and they're kind of squinty, too. Add all these things to man hands and it's kind of difficult to get those suckers in and out. Since my eyes started failing me more than a dozen years ago, I had to put the contacts in for him in a rush before the game. (He's actually right, it is hard!) Taking them out only took about 30 minutes last night. (I couldn't help this time because he didn't like me poking on his eyeball.)

Finally, we started planning for our second annual Kentucky Derby party. Beer cheese, Derby pie and mint juleps - yum! Only three more weeks until the Run for the Roses.

Comments

If you are reading this, I wish you would leave comments. I'm feeling insecure today and want to be loved. Thank you.

P.S. I am finally going to join Facebook, too...if you're on and you haven't heard from me within the week come find me.

Torch blues

Since AT&T Park is only 3 blocks from my office, a few coworkers and I set out to see the Olympic torch pass by. There were lots of bystanders like ourselves, as well as many protestors. From Team Tibet to Chinese advocates - there were even Darfur protestors there - the political movement was out in force, but also in peace (at least were I was standing). Except for a few stragglers, everyone stayed behind the barricades and waited for the runners.

I guess that wasn't quite the case on the Embarcadero, where the streets were flooded with people. This (supposedly) caused the Mayor, police chief and other security officials to suddenly re-route the runners...without telling anyone standing along the sidelines for a long time.

No big loss here personally. I just walked back to work. I needed to get there anyway since I'd been gone for a while. Honestly, I wasn't that upset about the protestors either. Always the PR girl, they had a LOT of free airtime, and on all sides of the issue (not sure where Darfur fits in this time, but the Tibet/China thing, definitely).

I was kind of sad for the runners though. Most of these people did something remarkable to have the opportunity to run with the torch in the first place - not to mention, S.F. was the only stop in the U.S. for the 2008 games. Not only did they have to run up the ugliest street in the City (Van Ness), they also had very few people to cheer them on.

Am I really upset? Not terribly. Do I think the City made the right decision? Quite possibly. No one was hurt in the City, and that is pretty remarkable considering how many people were here, protesting or not. Please don't misunderstand that I'm not sympathetic to the political situation or human rights issues at stake. I'm just taking off the PR hat for one second, and trying to put myself in the place of the athletes who have trained their entire lives to compete in the Olympics...it just must be such a letdown.

Photo slideshow here.

Happy Anniversary

Celebrating two years of wedded bliss today!

Fun Game with iTunes

It's been a while since I wrote two posts in one night. What can I say? I was inspired by Mike & Jen's blog once again - particularly Mike's post about his iTunes hit lists (which included his admission to having HANSON in there. Yep, Hanson songs on a 31-year-old married man's iPod...) Anyway, I believe this game comes courtesy of Jen's sister, Rebecca, and I am just copying. I tweaked some of the game items though. Full disclosure.

It's called how to kill ten minutes:
1) Open your iTunes library
2) Put it on shuffle
3) Press
4) For every question, type the song that's playing
5) When you go to a new question, press the next button
6) DON'T LIE!
7) When you're finished get some other people to do it

Here's how mine turned out:
1)Opening credits: Cut Here/The Cure
2)Waking up: Time and Time Again/Counting Crows (thankfully!)
3)First day of high school: Summer Love/Justin Timberlake
4)Party: Summer of 69/Bryan Adams
5)Hanging out with the girls: Vogue/Madonna
6)Big Sports game: Landslide/Fleetwood Mac (maybe if you lose!)
7)Graduation: God Put a Smile on Your Face/Coldplay
8)Getting it on: Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You/Led Zeppelin (yes, this is what came up!)
9)Falling in love: We Belong to the Night/Pat Benetar
10)Fight song: Out on the Tiles/Led Zeppelin (good one)
11)Breaking up: Only the Good Die Young/Billy Joel
12)Wedding: Deed is Done/DMB (what kind of a sign is this on the day before our anniversary?)
13)Life: Tiny Dancer/Elton John (LOL)
14)Flashback: Day After Day/The Pretenders
15)Death scene: Cold December/Matt Costa
16)Funeral: My Humps/Black Eyed Peas (completely inappropriate, but also quite funny. I hope people sing this at my funeral many, many years from now!)
17)End Credits: Celebration Day/Led Zeppelin

April Showers!

I spent the past weekend in Charlotte, where Adrienne & I co-hosted a baby shower for Emily (and baby Charlotte Patricia, who is due at the end of May). I've been so pre-occupied with friend and family health scares, as well as work, that I hadn't ramped up for the trip as much as I normally would have. Once I got there, though, it took me no time to reset priorities and really enjoy the time with my friends.

As you probably know, Emily's our friend who does everything first. She was the first to get married, the first to get a dog, the first to buy a home, the first to start a family. As competitive as I usually am, I'm always excited to see what she does next, and then I generally follow in her footsteps a few years later, taking her best practices along with me. (As you can see from the list above, I have only yet to accomplish the first of those four activities. And for those who are wondering, dog and home are definitely coming before additions to the family!)

But I digress. After a longggggg plane ride (and a trip to Detroit), I finally made it to Charlotte on Thursday night. I visited with Emily, Ryan and their dog, Nash, for a while before we were all so tired we went to bed. Friday, Adrienne and I did shower prep before Emily joined us for dinner at one of our favorite WFU restaurants, the Village Tavern (except this one was in Charlotte, clearly). The shower was on Saturday, and we couldn't wait for the guests to arrive.

For those of you who don't know Emily or Adrienne, let me try to explain. Think of me: only child, beautiful, organized, incredibly smart, on-the-ball, hysterically funny, modest, you get the picture. In terms of qualities that come to mind quickly, we are practically the same people. (I hope they are not offended!) Actually, I'm probably the slacker of the three of us. Definitely the most sarcastic...

Anyway, because Adrienne and I are who we are, we had most of the prep and set-up done on Friday. So when Saturday rolled around - despite the fact that we took a long walk, ate breakfast, showered, picked up flowers and balloons, prepared the food, and put the final touches on the shower - we were still ready an hour early. For some reason I couldn't sit still so we took lots of pictures and just sat around and read Us Magazine while I looked at the clock every 5 minutes. Pictured right = me waiting.

Eventually, everyone showed up and the shower began. We talked, played some games, and watched Emily open some of the most adorable baby gifts I have ever seen. I love the hamper filled with goodies!

We wrapped the weekend up in true Wake Forest style, with a trip to a BBQ place/sports bar and watched Kansas kill UNC, which was pretty fun for Demon Deacon fans.

Even though the trip was short, it was so worth it. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Close-up of the cookies. Check out the Tri Delta letters on the little onesie. No pressure, baby Charlotte!

My mom sent Emily and Charlotte three of my favorite books: The Very Hungry Catepillar, Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny.

Helen is showing off her Emily clothespin for the game. Nice!

It was a fun mini Tri Delta reunion!