Monday, July 30, 2007

Moving On

Our first 30 days are up. Tomorrow we're moving from one corporate apartment to the next. We have 30 more days, and then we have to pay mortgage AND rent--goodbye savings. I really can't believe our house hasn't sold yet. It's a great house, a beautiful house. Why doesn't someone want it?
I'm trying best to remain positive and am doing a good job, for the most part. But then there's that part of me that just wants to get settled NOW. Wants some financial security NOW. I guess the important thing is to just make the best of everyday no matter what our circumstances. easier said than done of course.
i had great gym time today--ran 3 miles at between 9-10 mile pace. did a few weights and abs. eating was semi successful until I let X pick out a dessert at the grocery store. He chose a chocolate frosted brownie with m&ms on top. it was so big that I just cut it into four and gave him one of the squares. Of course, i ended up eating the other three, along with a few glasses of wine to ease the tension of the move. at least as we're homeless tomorrow, I'll get in another good workout hopefully.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Hair Day

Today was my first hair experience here in Orlando. I was way overdue for some highlights and a cut and was excited to try out a hip, new place in College Park recommended by my friend G's sister. Not a great first impression when I walked in and not one of the stylists so much as turned her head in my direction, and it took at least five minutes for someone to come out of the back room and greet me. Okay, I could get over that. But then it took almost 25 MINUTES before the stylist even came to get me. I was livid!!!! I would have walked out, but I needed this done soo badly and couldn't think of anytime in the near future that it would have been possible. So I sat there seething, and then up she bounced the sweetest, little pixiest girl who appeared to be no more than 12 in her tube top and Chuck Taylors. And she has two kids--one 4 and one 1. And my anger melted away.

Until....she passed me off to her assistant for most of the work while she juggled three other customers, and I ended up with stripey highlights and a cut I'm not so sure about. And when it came time to tip I decided that no matter how sweet she was I was NOT going to tip 20 percent. She still got about 10 percent, which I was okay with. But really, service like that shouldn't get anything, right? but like i said she as sweet and has kids, and, basically I'm a wimp.

After that, I went to the one and only Whole Foods in the area, which is way too small and WAY too crowded with everyone in this area who's trying to get healthy without a whole lot of options. It's crazy there, but also makes me feel somewhat at home.

We decided to wait on mass until the morning and ended up at the Florida mall--a little sketchy driving there and parking, but a nice enough mall once we got there. My husband got a shirt at Sak's on sale; and I got some Keihl's moisturizer--since someone stole my other moisturizer at the gym!!!! We had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and saw a crazy store with real surfers and this surfing machine in it.

Foodwise I did pretty well today--Kashi cereal for breakfast; whole wheat pasta with some cheese and garlic salt for lunch, and a big chopped salad for dinner. not great, but not bad. Wine of course. going to shoot for three days this week with no wine. I am going to get thin!!!

That's about it. A nice day over all. Tomorrow--church in the morning and out with our realtor in the evening.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Can you Judge a Friend by the Cover?

I think to some degree you can.

It's always bothered me that my family (husband included) says things to me like "they look like someone you would be friends with." Even our current realtor characterized me as someone who wants to be around "people with an edge".

And while there's an element of truth there, it makes me wonder how superficial I may appear at times (and I know I am a little bit on the surface, but really I do seek depth and goodness in people first and foremost). I have friends who come in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of lifestyles and beliefs. Sure I'm attracted to those who like fashion and have good haircuts, but just because you like them doesn't mean you can afford Christian Louboutin shoes or that you actually have anywhere to wear them while raising children. I'm not a snob. My friends could be dowdy or frumpy and never venture out side the Old Navy walls, but if they can appreciate the art of the "good" designers and covet them right along with me, then who cares if we hang out in the park in Gap head to toe. And really, even if they don't, I can forgive their lack of love for my love if they are interesting and passionate about...well, anything--running, reading, sewing, art, scrapbooking, yoga whatever.

When it comes down to true friendships, though, I need more. I can hang; I can have playdates; I can return occasional phone calls with any reality-tv-watching, book-reading, wine-drinking preson, or turth be told, any parent of a child in the range of 3-6 who my child likes and isn't the spawn of a freak . But I won't really invest in the realtionship unless there's something more, something deeper. I don't like bobbing around the surface for long; I'm a deep sea kind of friend despite what others may think.

Since my picklebug (PB) started swimming lessons there's been a mom I spotted who "looks" like someone I might connect with. Today we did. We discovered that we both have sons who were born under 2 pounds. We both had preeclampsia. We both went through hell, but have incredible children who survived and are thriving .

It appears she has a lot of friends already, which means she's probably not actively seeking new ones. But we'll see. I'm patient, not pushy. To connect with someone who has been through what we've been through would be great. And besides, she had on some great Prada shoes the other day.

P.S. just another aside, it's sooooo hard for me to acutlaly hit publish because I want to work and rework this piece until perfection. BUT i won't. I'm trying to treat this as a writing exercise and going for quantity over quality. There's just so much more to say... which I will do in another post--e.g. how your children's taste in friends and yours can GREATLY differ!

To blog or not to blog

I've been pondering this question for quite some time. I voraciously read about 30 blogs and am continually searching for new ones. I love the insight I get into the lives of these people. I rarely, if ever, post, but I find myself referring to them in conversation with people in my "real" life. I frequently catch myself beginning a sentence with: "This woman/man's blog I read said ..."

So what has kept me (a professional writer) from jumping into the blogosphere long, long ago? In a word--my mother (okay two words). I don't think I can write with the required honesty of a good blog if there's a chance my mother would eventually read it. That's sad, and I probably need therapy I know, as I'm a 30-something mother with a house (sort of--that's a story for later) a husband and a great life. But it's the truth.

So I found a solution--an anonymous blog where I can write about whoever and whatever I want, without her or anyone else knowing.

You see, I want to be able to bitch about my friends and what they say and do. I want to complain about my husband when he pisses me off. And I want to admit that I skip mass once in awhile without sending my mother into a praying frenzy to save my soul from the fires of hell.

The pictures will be lacking (at least for awhile), which sucks I know. I love seeing photos of the bloggers I stalk. And maybe with time, I'll be comfortable posting a few. We'll see.

Who knows if anyone will even ever discover my blog. It may just be for me.

One thing I do promise my readers (again, even it's only moi) is that I will post frequently. I HATE blog lags. I also promise that you will probably find tons of grammatical errors, a lack of proper spelling and punctuation. I spend too much time professionally worrying about that stuff to meticulously comb this (which is supposed to be fun) for errors.

So there you go.

We'll see how it goes.