Tag: Me Myself & I

Posted on

10 years ago today

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the tragedies that occurred on September 11, 2001, and I thought I’d share with you my journal entry from that time (which, as it happens, was my very first journal entry ever). I had just moved out to Jersey City, NJ, in July of that year to start working in Manhattan, so you can imagine what was going through my head after that day – I was 1,000 miles away from my friends and family, I was living alone in a huge new city, and then terror struck. To say I wanted to go home was an understatement. Fortunately I did, for a bit. The week after 9/11 I was able to drive back, since our office building in lower Manhattan was uninhabitable at that point – I made a brief pit stop at home in Peoria, then headed to Madison to spend 3 weeks with R. 3 glorious weeks. I was in heaven. But anyway, here was my take on that fateful day…

***

Written on October 25, 2001, at 12:30am (my current added notations are in italics)

 

OK, I’m finally starting to write this stuff down, b/c right now I feel like it’s the only way I can get everything out.

 

Continue reading “10 years ago today”

Posted on

The air up here

For those of you who don’t know me irl, I’m tall. Some would even say really tall. I’m 5′ 11.5″, so just a shade under 6′. And I love it. I wouldn’t trade being tall for being short for anything. I can reach stuff easily, I don’t have to stand on a chair to get something from the back/top of cabinets, I can quickly scan most crowds when necessary, I can hold stuff out of my toddler’s reach with incredible ease, and it’s just less crowded up here.

Buying pants sucks, though, as I have a pretty normal-sized torso with really long legs. Tops can get tricky as well, as I have to find length to cover my pterodactyl-like wingspan while not ending up with enough material in the body to look like a tent.

However, there is 1 thing that has always bothered me about being an above-average height. And that is the incredibly common exclamation, often from complete strangers, of, “You’re so TALL!!”

Um, no shit. This is undoubtedly the first thing people notice when they see me, so why do you feel the need to proclaim it like you’re having an epiphany? And I’ve never been able to figure out what people expect me to respond when they say that. “What? I am??” Or maybe, “For serious??” What about, “Get out!” (with a corresponding shove to the chest like elaine did in that one seinfeld episode) I have never once responded, “Thank you,” because is it really a compliment? Am I supposed to be flattered at your incredulity when you stare at me with your mouth agape and comment on the utter obviousness that is my height?

You have no idea how many times I’ve gotten that comment, either. It’s probably verging on a million by now. It’s like some people have never seen tall humans before. Like I came straight out of the zoo or circus and just appeared in front of them. I didn’t think being tall was such an oddity, but to some I’m quite the side show attraction. This was pretty funny, though – one Halloween a few years ago we were at one of the bars downtown and someone gave me a card to join the Milwaukee Tall Club, or something like that. No joke. That really does exist. And this guy had a good foot on me, so the number of times he’s been gawked at has to put mine to shame.

These comments don’t make me mad really, just more annoyed. Like that’s just a dumb thing to say. And why do people think that’s a normal thing to say? I’ve never felt the urge to walk up to someone and comment on their height. But maybe that makes me the weird one? Maybe next time I’ll just respond with, “No, you’re just really short.”

 

Posted on

Off we go

Into the wild blue yonder. Or Colorado, whichever.

My sister M gets married on Saturday, so tonight we head west for the rest of the week and weekend. I couldn’t find a picture of the exact dress I will be wearing, but it’s similar to this one except in purple:

Suzi Chin for Maggy Boutique, Nordstrom

I’ll make sure to post some pictures when we return to show you the real thing. These, however, are my exact shoes. A terrible choice for what turned out to be an outdoor ceremony, and I haven’t spent nearly enough time breaking them in, so I’m afraid they won’t last long. I’m definitely taking a pair of flats or flip-flops or something to wear when I can no longer stand these skyscrapers:

Enzo Angiolini "Sully", Nordstrom

And I know you’re all dying to know, so here’s what D is wearing as well:

A little blurry and unfortunately I don't know the brand, Neiman Marcus
GFVEY Waltz, Target

 

Wish us luck on the flights, and I’ll see you next week!

 

Posted on

Are you ready for some football?

First of all, who’s sufficiently stuck to their seats? It was 83 on the temperature gauge this morning on our way up to 92 today, with about 400% humidity, and my hair is ready to curl off my head. Blech. I was hoping we were past these days for the summer, but apparently I was mistaken. Fortunately it’s only supposed to last today, so that’s not too bad. Poor air conditioning did have to come back on, though.

But to my real point… It’s one of my favorite times of year again, people – college football season!! That and college basketball, specifically UW-Madison Badgers football and basketball, are simply wonderful. I enjoy them so much more than pro. NFL I like, but NBA? Are you kidding me? No thank you very much.

The Badgers played their season opener at home in Camp Randall last night against UNLV, and blasted ’em 51-17. Go Badgers!!

Here’s a stroll down memory lane from some of our past Badger football game appearances:

This usually happens before/after a Badger game - at the Great Dane, Oct. 16, 2010
It was billed as the last "Glory Daze" for our friends
We beat #1 OSU!! I would've LOVED to have been down on that field
Yep, we taught 'em how to Bucky. And you know this!
Oct. 31, 2009 vs. Purdue
Purdue can kiss R's butt (we won 😉 )
Our brick outside Camp Randall
Nov. 15, 2008 vs. Minnesota - I got to go out on the field with past letter winners. Very awesome
Oct. 25, 2008 vs. Illinois - Badger Fun Day, view from a suite, amazing
Nov. 10, 2007 vs. Michigan
Oct. 28, 2006 vs. Illinois
Oct. 22, 2005 vs. Purdue
Sept. 25, 2004 vs. Penn St.
Oct. 18, 2003 vs. Purdue - look how young everyone looks!

Have a great long weekend – Happy Labor Day!

 

p.s. and again, run stats for the week: tuesday i ran 1.86 miles in 15:21 for an 8:15 pace, and last night i ran 2.11 miles in 17:46 for an 8:24 pace. short but sweet was the theme this week, so hopefully i can get a longer one in this weekend sometime.

 

Posted on

Glad that one was just a dream

When D woke me up 20 minutes before my alarm this morning I was having my first 9/11 nightmare in a long time, if ever. I’m guessing it stemmed from all of the current publicity surrounding the 10 year anniversary of it that is approaching.

In my dream I was down in the subways under the World Trade Center as I was that morning, but this time I knew everything that was going to happen. It was like I was the only one who knew what the next few minutes held, so I was trying to get up and outside to where I had been that day. I kept warning people to get out of there and take cover, but no one paid me any attention. Just another crazy New Yorker running around. I finally wound my way around to the outer perimeter of the WTC, and watched, plain as day, the first plane crash right into the north tower. It was weird, though, because from my vantage point in the dream the towers were a fraction as tall as they really had been, so everything was magnified since it was so close to the ground. A piece of glass from the explosion fell into my eye.

After witnessing that first crash (i’m still in the dream here), I ran around to another side of the shortened tower, where I began seeing people jumping from the windows to get out. Thank god I never saw that in real life. I think it would have caused many, many more nightmares before now. But this morning I was frozen in place, watching people throw themselves out of the towers in droves; some peaceful-looking, resigned to their fate below, some screaming in sheer terror. I couldn’t believe it.

Then at the end of the dream I found myself over on the very lower eastern tip of Manhattan, where a huge tidal wave was crashing in to destroy that part of the city. I have no idea where that one came from, since there were no tidal waves occurring in NYC on 9/11. That would have been really unfair.

Whew. That was one of those dreams where you are just so thankful to be able to wake up and walk away from the shadows.

 

Posted on

I pretty much rock

You guys, I don’t brag about myself much at all, but I just have to let you know about this one. Tonight, to begin my workout with my trainer, I did 5 pull ups. I repeat – 5 pull ups!! I haven’t done pull ups since before I was pregnant, let alone 5 in a row. And these were full on, from a dead hang, no leg swinging to cheat pull ups. Yes, I did do them underhand grip instead of overhand, which is harder, but still. I was aiming for 3 (but I really was only expecting 2) and my trainer was aiming for 2, so we were both pretty stoked.

The last time I did 5 pull ups was on my 30th birthday, a little over 2 years ago. So there’s my personal pat on the back for tonight. I’d better get it in now, because I have a feeling I won’t be able to reach around and touch my back through the pain I’ll most likely be feeling in a matter of hours.

Posted on

Guilty pleasures

I have a confession to make, which you may or may not find surprising, depending on how well you know me. I am totally in love with junk reality tv. Channels like Bravo and E! tend to suck me in, especially when they run marathons. If I find a string of episodes of a show I’ve been missing, oo wee, look out! There goes Saturday. (ha! yeah right, i mean there went saturday. i haven’t been able to sit down and watch a tv marathon in ages)

The top contenders in my tv land would probably have to be My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant (terrible, i know, but i just can’t help myself!), and pretty much a nation-wide blanketing of the Real Housewives. The RH of Orange County are my favorites and Beverly Hills surprised me last season by coming in a close second, but the rest of them I actually can’t stand. New York have just gotten beyond ridiculous (except Bethenny – i love her! oh – all of her shows make the list too, whatever it will be called for the next season. and her skinny girl margaritas aren’t half bad either. anyone tried the sangria yet?), New Jersey are annoying as hell, D.C. were horrendous, Atlanta are now even too ghetto for me, and was there a Miami, too? I never watched that one. I could tell from the start that I would hate them.

Wait what? You haven’t seen My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding?? Holy shit. Well what are you still sitting here for? Go find it! It is seriously crazy. These gypsies (called irish travelers, living mainly in england) all get married super young and have the most extravagantly tacky, lavish weddings I’ve ever seen. It’s awesome! I watch most episodes with my mouth hanging open in incredulity at what these people find “pretty”. And how do they afford this stuff? I’ve even gotten R to watch this one with me because some of them are so mind-boggling. It appears that most of the women on the show are cleaning women of some sort, the guys work in scrap metal, almost no one makes it past grade school, yet they have ginormous weddings and the girls’ dresses cost like $50,000-$100,000. I’m not kidding! And the crowds at these weddings? Unreal. The kids are all grinding on each other in the hopes of finding a mate, yet they’re super strict when it comes to girls “doing anything” before they’re married. I can’t even explain it all – you just have to go watch. I think this one’s actually on TLC.

What’s with the Teen Mom, you ask? Well, that one I’ve actually watched those girls since they were the first season of 16 and Pregnant, so that means I’m automatically hooked. The newer seasons of 16 and Pregnant, though, I haven’t followed at all. And this one isn’t very high up on my list. If it’s on and it happens to be a rare night when R’s already gone to bed and I have free reign of the tv I’ll watch it, but I don’t clear my schedule for it or even put it on the dvr list.

R always chastises me for watching these shows. “This shit is what’s wrong with society,” he will say. “People thinking these shows are real.” Um, hello, I in no way, shape, or form think these shows are anywhere near reality. In fact, I’m always so happy watching them that they are not my reality. That’s part of their appeal – that some people are so far out there that they have shows like these for me to watch. Pure mindless entertainment, plain and simple. I’m definitely not taking notes on how to get my lips that big or hair that bleached or lifestyle so ludicrous, don’t worry. I just like to veg out for half an hour or 47 minutes and watch my trash-fest. So stop hating, Mr. Man Caves, Deadliest Catch, and Man v. Food Nation, among countless others that totally fill our dvr so my little shows have no room to be recorded anyway. (and i always sit through all of his shows with not a peep or complaint. why can’t he just shut up on the very few occasions that he happens to catch 5 minutes of one of mine so i can actually hear it?)

So fess up. How about you? Got any guilty pleasure trash tv shows that you love to watch? Chances are I’ve seen all of them at some point along the way, too, even if I didn’t deem them worthy of repeat viewings.