Diving Into The Wreck

05 November 2008

yes we can!

and we did! even VA, FL and OH turned blue.

thank you, everyone :)

28 October 2008

have you seen this? if you haven't, then check it out! and keep clicking "show more images" or you might miss something. i love these photos. thanks for sending me the link, alison!

i'm off to bed (yes, it's 9pm) to try and finish fighting off this frakkin' cold. wish me luck!

19 October 2008

willow trees bend in the wind

okay, that's really not the most interesting thing that's been going on in the past couple of weeks, but it put me in a good mood today. in a ridiculously high-scoring game (and ridiculous for other reasons too), the bears beat the vikings 48-41. yay! i knew my urlacher jersey was good luck! too bad the packers beat the colts, though.

let's see... the past few weeks have been busy and yet not. i've been spending good time with indy, celebrating our anniversary, watching football, taking some SAS training, getting promoted, winning a couple of awards at work, doing some shopping (awesome dress for a wedding and new purses!), hanging out with friends, making it to the one-year mark at my "new" job, and possibly catching a cold. (i'm hoping if i just ignore that last one that it will go away.)

i've been on a little hiatus from working out and i'm slowly easing my way back into it. i did some ddr and yoga this week in between a bunch of other things. this week, i plan to go to the gym at least two or three times. and i'll get to see a good friend who will be in town and i'm psyched about that since i haven't seen her in ages.

i've also been thinking through some stuff having to do with the ol' divorce and thought i'd share a few things i've found. since the beginning of this process, i have been trying to be aware of my actions and reactions and i've been wanting to minimize the amount of anger i put forward in my responses -- mainly for my own peace of mind. i've been trying to sort out where i am now and how best to continue that mindest going forward and indy mentioned a metaphor that fits this perfectly. he referred to a quote about how willows bend in the wind but oak trees break. i want to be a willow tree.

i listen to a podcast called divorcing daze and they had a really good one recently with gabriel cohen, the author of storms can't hurt the sky: a buddhist path through divorce. i listened to this at a particularly good time because i was thinking about how to best deal with future possible interactions with the ex. he also recommends a few books that i have read throughout this whole process and they both really helped me and i'll add a few recs of my own. i've also loaned these out to a few friends that have also found them to be good.
drunk, divorced, and covered in cat hair by laurie perry (aka crazy aunt purl)
when things fall apart by pema chodron
anger and true love by thich nhat hanh
crazy time by abigail trafford

of course i read a ton more than this, but some of them are a bit more specific to the situation i found myself in and the things i had to deal with. you're welcome to email or post and ask for more recs if you're curious! oh, and i just read this compelling crime novel called the princess of burundi. i couldn't put it down and i'd recommend it! it's fiction, but it felt a little like some of the true crime stuff that i like to read.

anyway, i am starting to really look forward to november, which is when i'll get to celebrate the first anniversary of my divorce being final. yay! i am feeling good about most of the crap i was left to deal with once i had time to breathe and i feel stable and happy and optimistic about the future.

november also has lots of fund things like indy's birthday! and another trip with indy (yay!) to the hamptons for a wedding! i am pretty excited about it because i'll get to see a bunch of family and indy will get to meet loads of my family, including my cousins who are a ton of fun. and then there's the weekend my parents are coming to visit and thanksgiving and then before i know it, it will be xmas and time for us to go to san francisco for a week. woo-hoo!!

05 October 2008

happy birthday to me!

yeah, about those cubs... they really let me down! come on, guys -- swept by the dodgers? really?! i think i'll be taking some time off from baseball for a while. it's okay, it means i can focus my energy on the bears instead! hooray for kicking detroit's butt today and hooray for my birthday urlacher jersey (which i have now decided is lucky).

so my birthday was a few days ago and, as i seem to do every year, i have been taking stock. i keep finding myself focusing on the bad things (no house, not much savings, still unsure about kids, not getting any younger, blah blah blah). this might all be the case, but i also have been spending this past year getting used to living just a normal life, without all of the fallout from the ol' unstable relationship/divorce/emotional recuperation that's been going on. and life without all of that drama is quiet. and peaceful, when i let it be.

the whole truth is that i am happy, healthy, in love, employed somewhere i still like (most of the time!), and up for promotion. life is good. very good, in fact! i know that i'm pretty lucky. i should really do a better job of remembering all of the good stuff and that i'm working on the not-so-good stuff. i have plans!

thanks to everybody who let me know that they were thinking about me on my b-day with their phone calls and e-cards and emails and all. it really meant a lot. my friends rock!

and thanks, indy, for a really great birthday :)

07 September 2008

sweet home chicago

sweet! i can't believe the bears beat the colts!! maybe this is chicago's year.

now if the cubs can just hang in there for a few more weeks, we might even go to the world series... madness! of course, that's only if they can remember where to go.

and my condolences to patriots fans -- brady didn't deserve that. sucks!!

02 September 2008

mccain and whats-her-name

i think this is how things might go down... i think palin will step down to "spend more time with her family" and then mccain will pick his real vp candidate.. and i think it will be some old white guy. i really get the feeling that this whole woman for vp thing is some sort of insulting ploy by the gop machine.

i certainly hope that the gop didn't think that disenfranchised hillary supporters would swoon into mccain's arms because he nominated a woman. and to the talking heads: please stop trying to tell me can or can't be president because she has children, a special needs child, a pregnant daughter, and/or a good work-life balance. how about her experience in government?? why can't we talk about that?! no one is scutinizing the men as fathers and whether or not they are good at balancing their jobs and families.

so basically, i think (hope!) that this how sarah palin will be rememebred. mccain and whats-her-name.

28 August 2008

wow!

this week has been NUTS at work. extra hours, bringing stuff home, etc. yay! but i took a big, fat break tonight and all i have to say is GO OBAMA!

did anyone else watch that speech? come on, i now you're out there -- all four of you! this election is going to rock and i think i'm back to being a news junkie.