Flying Rings
I have a silver ring that I wear during the summers on my ring finger on my right hand. Ron once was playing around with it and noticed that it fit perfectly on his pinky finger. Hence, my engagement ring was sized around Ron's pinky finger. He's clever, if nothing else.
The only problem is that my right hand is slightly larger than my left and in the cold weather, my hands tend to...contract, for lack of a better term. I realized this morning (because I was actually cold for the first time in about 6 months) that with one quick flick of the wrist, my ring would fly off my finger.
Not good. If I lose this ring, I might have to enter the witness protection program. During this summer, because I've generally been warm, the ring fit just fine. But by December, this could be a problem.
Fortunately, we're supposed to visit with our jeweler next month to have my wedding band made. So I'm hoping he can resize this without having to take the whole setting apart.
The Job Crisis
Okay, it's not a crisis. Maybe that's the problem. For the last 3 years at work, I've been in crisis mode. Since I took over this department, and before that actually, it's been one emergency after another, usually created by The Most Evil Company In The World. The Most Evil Company is not who I work for directly. It's the company that my company partnered with and, I think, did so with the intent of driving me to an early grave.
But now things have settled down and I'm bored to tears. There's nothing to do. Except that's not really true--there's actually lots to do. I've realized that I need to re-learn my job and how to approach it differently. I need to be proactive and plan things, something I've never had the opportunity to do before. Maybe that's exciting. Certainly there have been times in the past few years where I didn't like having to be
reactive to situations. The lack of planning drove me nuts, and more than once I resorted to using all sorts of foul language on the job. Language, as it turns out, that may be the only kind that The Most Evil Company In The World understands.
As a result of the aftermath of Katrina, I started asking My Institution a lot of questions about what would happen if Katrina, or something equally as devastating, happened here. I would have about 600 people I would need to evacuate. No one has any answers, no one has a plan. No one in my field has many plans for their institutions either.
I want to create a plan. I'm excited by creating a plan. In fact I'm thinking more about reacting to an emergency than I am about creating departmental protocol. So I've realized something. I want to work in emergency management. I like being in crisis. Or rather, I like trying to fix a crisis.
I think I need to go work for FEMA. And then start a consulting firm that creates emergency plans for institutions in my field. It's like God has called me to do this. I feel a calling. I've never felt like I had a calling before. Me! I have a calling!
I'm going to ignore it for now though, because I'm too lazy to look for another job.
Ding! Take Two
So this past weekend, we flew to Pittsburgh for a wedding. Ron was a groomsman and a lot of people I know were in attendance. In fact, we referred to it as the "wedding of the century" because it seemed that everybody who was anybody was invited. Anyway, the weather was great, the bride was beautiful and everyone had a great time. There was a little business about the reverend bringing up a lot of talk about death and foot fungus, but I guess every wedding ceremony has its quirks.
I flew
Southwest for the first time and I didn't know whether to be charmed or appalled by their antics. First is the open seating plan--there are no assigned seats on the plan. They board passengers in groups based on what time you printed your boarding pass (which you can do from home up to 24 hours in advance).
Most flight attendants look all snappy in their navy suits and dress shoes. Not so with Southwest. Most wear shorts and polo shirts with sneakers. One guy had on a "Ding" t-shirt. They try to be funny with their announcements as well: "One more time, small items under the seat; larger items in the overhead compartment. Are we on the same frequency? I feel like I'm talking to myself here." Or "Thank you for pretending to listen to us while we announce the safety information." Or "See that middle seat in between two strangers? That's yours." They're not kidding either--they'll pull away from the gate with people standing in the aisle.
But their flights are $29 so I guess I really can't complain.
Arrested
Yeah, I don't think
this is going to go over well.
Annoying Me
I just did a whole, long post about this weekend, specifically about my adventures on Southwest airlines and Blogger apparently ate the post. I'm too frustrated to attempt re-typing it now.
Jerky Blogger.
Wedding Part Deux
Yeah, I'm not even sure I spelled that right. Give me a break, I haven't had my morning coffee yet.
The wedding blitz continues. In a couple of hours Ron and I are flying to scenic Pittsburgh for another wedding this weekend. Ron is one of the groomsmen, and I know a lot of the people going, so it should be fun.
Fashion news: I'm wearing a dress that I've already worn before to this wedding (read: I didn't buy a new dress for this wedding). Is this progress or what?
Bust a Move
Behold the bridesmaids' dress and all its glory! Ignore the girl I don't know in the black and white dress. Also ignore my attempt to dance.
Nada
Okay, so I wasn't quite smart enough to figure out how to get my pictures off my camera. Well, that's not exactly true. It's more like I had Ron figure out how to get them on our computer and then I was too lazy to upload them to Flickr.
So no pictures just yet.
Plateau
I've hit a weight loss plateau. Actually, it's more than just weight loss, I've hit an overall fitness plateau. It's all alittle frustrating, but to be honest, I'm probably not trying as hard as I could be. I'm still doing at least 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. Most days it's about 40 minutes and that's usually in the mornings. I've been slacking on going back after work for an additional 30-40 minutes. To boot, I've been missing my stretching and pilates classes due to some conflicts.
Up until last week, I was still lifting free weights 3 days a week. No matter what lifts I did, at what weight level, it didn't seem that the back of my upper arms looked toned. When I flex, you can see defined tricep muscle, but when my arms are relaxed at my sides, they look flabby. Ugh. So I took last week off the weights and I'm trying to figure out a new plan. After a year of lifting free weights, my arms should look better than they do.
So that's what I need: a new plan. My two problem areas are my upper arms and my lower abdomen. I would like to lose about 8 more pounds since I haven't lost any weight in months now but that's secondary to really wanting to tone up the arms and lower abdomen. I'm sure my stomach would be better if I was alittle more regimented about doing crunches, pilates moves, etc. But I am at a loss about those arms.
Wedding Bliss
Saturday was my friend Heather's wedding and after spending most of Friday and Saturday obsessively checking the Weather Channel, it turned out to be a beautiful evening. Humid, but no rain which was fantastic since the ceremony was outdoors. Both the ceremony and reception were
here, and the location was beautiful.
We spent Friday frantically putting centerpieces and bouquets together. And despite me being a doubting Thomas, the flowers turned out great. There were some last minute alterations, but all and all, you couldn't tell they weren't professionally done. Maybe I have a future in floral design. I can tell you one thing though, Heather is more organized than I have ever given her credit for. She had everything about the favors and centerpieces labeled so that it was virtually idiot-proof for the rest of us.
Friday was the rehearsal. Saturday I went to breakfast with the other bridesmaids and then we met Heather for hair and makeup. Heather had us so on the ball, that we were all done and ready by 1:30pm with nowhere to go. The photographer wasn't coming for another 2 and a half hours. So we sat. And then paced nervously. And then reapplied makeup. And then pressed our dresses again. And paced. And watched more Weather Channel. And reapplied makeup to the point of looking like drag queens. And pressed our dresses again. And paced. Until it was 3:45p.m.
From that point on the day and night flew. Before I knew it, it was 1a.m. and I was on my way back to the hotel.
Of the few things that do stand out in my mind was the vows. We all bawled during the vows. Heather's groom, who has never been among my favorite individuals, blew me away with his vows, which he wrote. And for the first time, I really understood his and Heather's relationship. I had never really understood them as a couple. But Saturday, I got it and it was beautiful.
I haven't really grasped the whole digital camera thing. Meaning that I'm great at taking photos with my camera, but now they are inside my camera and I'm not sure how to get them anywhere else. I'm going to see if I can finagle something with Flickr later today and post some pics here.
To Cheat or Not To Cheat
I'm going to see my hair stylist tonight so that I had no split ends for this Saturday--the day I look like a swab of cotton candy (read: bridesmaid dress).
I'm debating whether to cheat on my stylist after this. While he's great at cutting my hair, he's not so hot at styling it. And in six months I need to have some sort of updo thing done for THE DAY I WILL VOMIT ON THE ALTER. My naturally wavy hair seems to be a challenge for him. He loves straightening it and it looks awesome when he does that. But, whenever I say, oh don't bother straightening it, the blow dryer comes out complete with a diffuser and I wind up looking like something out of 1983.
Ron's preference is that I leave my hair curly and put it up for the wedding. I'd rather not do a wedding consultation with my stylist, if I don't think I'm going to use him because then things would be awkward and I would have to divorce him entirely. Of course it might be awkward anyway because he knows I'm engaged and if I never mention him doing my hair....
Thing is, I'm not sure who else I would go to to get my hair done.
Song of the Day
Dammit, I don't like Kanye West but "Gold Digger" is stuck in my head.
Happy Birthday to YOU!
It's Ron's birthday and we're celebrating by...you guessed it, watching Monday Night Football. The Eagles home opener on Monday night. Honestly, there is no better present.
Happy birthday, baby balooga!
People First
I was wrong. I'm woman enough to admit when I'm wrong, so I'll say it again: I was wrong. I lambasted people for staying in New Orleans last week, putting themselves at risk for Katrina's destruction, calling them dumb. And no doubt there probably were people who could have and should have left, if all the cars floating around are any indicator. However, there are tens of thousands of others that had no means to leave. The poorest, whom the government failed on the local, state and federal levels. It frustrates me beyond belief and that frustration ran rampant on my blog last week. I still don't have time for the loots, and I don't mean the ones who were taking food, water or Pampers. I don't have patience for the violence that erupted. And the police, who abandoned their posts? Whatever. But I digress....
People before processes. Some "expert" said that on TV one day. The more I think about it, the more true it seems. People should come before processes. In instances like this one, I'm not sure people knew the proper processes, but it seems evident that the processes stood in the way of things getting done. Governor Blanco has admitted that she wasn't clear enough in asking for help and specific enough about the kind of help she needed. Mayor Nagin's office had to raid an Office Max for satellite phones because it never occurred to them that there wouldn't be phone lines up and running during and after a hurricane? I understand that the federal government can't just send troops into states to take over when they haven't been asked. But, then again, this situation was largely unlike anything else that's happened in the United States. At what point does the federal government say, "We don't care that the exact process of being asked for help hasn't played out, people need help and we're going in"?
I don't have all the answers.
I ran across a blog the other day written by a British dude who was blasting the U.S. for accepting monetary help from other countries to assist with the aftermath of Katrina. He was critical that the U.S. , the richest country in the world, would take money from other countries and that we ignore our own poor.
Well, in a way, he has a point. I'm ashamed that we are taking money from Sri Lanka (actually they offered, I'm not sure that we took it). As the richest country in the world we SHOULD be able to take care of our own poor. It made me think about larger, systemic issues: why do we have poor people? Why do we have those who are homeless? Shouldn't the United States, more so than any other country, be in a position to take care of its own? I know a capitalist economy feeds into this somewhere but who cares?
Eliminating poverty takes a lot of money. Probably ALL our money. And what if we couldn't help other countries then? What if we only looked out for our own and didn't help others? How much would we be criticized then?
I think, in the coming weeks and months, there will be a focus on the poverty issue in this country. Because what's obvious in the aftermath of Katrina is how miserably we failed our poor. The ones whom need our government the most. The ones who need the most help.
We are better than this, don't you think?
Some Idle Tuesday
Four years ago, my father and brother sat outside the Twin Towers enjoying Krispy Kreme donuts in the early morning hours before work. My brother, looking up at the towers, remarked that it must be a pain to clean that many windows.
Of course, less than four hours after that, there weren't any windows left to clean.
What I remember most about that day, aside from the horror and sadness, was how brilliant the weather was. Much like today. Warm, but not too hot and sunny without a cloud in the sky. The weather so contradicted the day.
I also remember that it was a Tuesday. And the sentence that kept running through my head was a line from that "
Wear Sunscreen" graduation address that later was constantly played on the radio for some reason:
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.I won't forget that day, what the day of the week it was, or what the weather was like. I will remember everything.
Are You Ready for Some Football?
So the official NFL season starts tonight and you know that Ron and I have to go to a bar and watch the game. I'm not even sure who's playing. I'm definitely not a die-hard fan (as any of my friends reading this well know), but it's hard not to get caught up in Ron's enthusiasm.
A couple of beers, greasy food and some football with my honey isn't a bad way to spend a Thursday night thought. You know?
Betting Woman
For the first time in my life, I joined a football pool. It's run by friends of mine and it makes the games a little more exciting to have a vested monetary interest each week.
That being said, I'm pretty sure I just flushed $85 down the toliet.
The Best
I cannot tell you how happy I am that
The Best Week Ever is returning from summer hiatus.
Song of the Day
Because it's stuck in my head is "Breathe" by Anna Nalick.
The Blame Game
What should be happening right now is everyone being 100% focused on helping the victims of Katrina. There will be a time and a place to hold people accountable, but I don't focusing on who's to
blame should be a priority right now. Not with people still trapped.
I'd love to find out how this "should have" worked, because clearly it should have worked better. Mayor Nagin, your radio address was heart-wrenching, but it also demonstrated that you weren't quite sure what you were doing. You seemed out of control and I don't believe that helped your constituents any. Don't think you get to point all the fingers and not take any of the blame. Governor Blanco will have to take some too. I'm not sure if you two never talked previously about how to handle a disaster but when push came to shove, you two didn't seem to be on the same page and it wasn't because of downed phone lines.
Totally different situations in many respects, but after 9/11 Mayor Guiliani and Governor Pataki got it right. They had resources and they kept it together.
But again, this is a discussion for a different day.
Open Letters
Dear Citizens of New Orleans,
Setting what little remains of your city on fire is doing little to help the situation. Also, taking over police stations by shooting police officer sniper-style is unacceptable. When the looting first started, I was hoping that I was wrong about how bad it would get. I don't want to hear your whining when the National Guard moves in and declares martial law, because this is going to get worse, before it gets better. They're going to shoot citizens. There's a lot of good people out there, but the bad ones have taken over and what happens next will be the fault of those bad people.
Sincerely,
Boom
Dear President Bush,
Where the fuck is the National Guard? Are they coming from China? I know there are logistical issues in that region, and really, I'm not one to usually criticize the federal government, but if reporters can move from one location to another you can certainly get some military back-up in there. And I'm not talking about sending 1,000 troops. You need to get 100,000 troops in there--and not just to New Orleans. You need to get the residents out of there and you need to get them food and water. These people are starving to death.
And what's with that stupid smirk you're wearing everytime you talk about this? It's like you can't keep a straight face. You're reminding me of freakin' Clinton who couldn't stop smiling even when talking about the most serious of situations. It's been 5 days since this hurricane and 4 days since the levees broke, and all I hear is a lot of lip service about "help is on the way." Unacceptable, dude.
Sincerely,
Boom
Dear Mayor Nagin,
Rock on. You're never going to work in politics again after this, but good for you for telling it like it is. That governor of yours is pretty good, but she doesn't lay it out like you do. You were all cussing on national TV, sending out an S.O.S to the nation. Thanks for keeping it real. I hope things work out for you, man, because you can hear the desperation in your voice and it's heartwrenching. I love New Orleans. It's one of my favorite cities and one I've always planned to return to again. It breaks my heart to see this happening to your city and its people.
May God help you,
Boom
Do I Live In Iraq?
Because that's what it's sounding like:
shooting at choppers, hospital workers, etc. At the time of this post, the headline on CNN.com is "Gunmen Target Medical Convoy." Are you kidding me???
For the first time I'm really realizing that people are dying now, today, not because of Katrina, but because the civil unrest isn't allowing help to arrive. People are dying not because they were killed in a storm, but because there's no medical attention and what little there is is being shot at.
I just find this whole thing un-fucking-believable.
Uh Oh
For the last fews months, I've been going to the gym each morning at 6 a.m. Well, I probably miss a morning every 10 days or so. While I hated getting out of bed, I love working out in the mornings. I have so much more energy. Some evenings I go back to the gym after work, because I have workout ADD and can't seem to continuously work out for more than 40 minutes at a time.
Anyway, yesterday morning I noticed it was almost dark when I was walking to the gym. I realized with fall coming that going to the gym at 6 a.m. would be going to the gym when it's pitch black outside. I have a feeling that I might not be quite as motivated to go in the mornings when it's dark.
