Dren Notes

So spring’s coming, and I’m excited and a bit leery:

Reasons to be celebrating, rushing winter out the door:

• SUNSHINE!  Well, not really in my neck of the woods, but maybe other folks who are blessed with its presence can email me some.
• I’m stinkin’ tired of my sweaters and coats (which I wear both almost all day long.  Yes, my husband does properly mock me).
• Flowers – you can’t call me Flower if you want to, but you can send me some:  anything non-stinky (ugh:  even looking at the picture makes me shudder).

Reasons I’m a bit cautious about being overly-welcoming to that second season of the year:

• Allergies.  Now that I’m not sharing my body or bodily fluids with anyone else, I seem to have lost my “get out of allergies free” card.
• Daylight savings time.  I lose an hour.  JJ loses an hour.  But he doesn’t do the time-adjustment thing as well as my VCR (which switches automatically – rock on).
• Springtime clothes.  I.e. not as many clothes.  I.e. revealing more flesh.  I.e. trying to fit into those prepregnancy clothes that were cute and fit when my body hadn’t been leased to a temporary tenant who left some of his junk in my trunk.  Okay, so it’s my junk, but he can’t defend himself yet, so I’d like to use that excuse as long as I can.  C’MON!!! (said as GOBesque as possible – and yes, I swear I’ve turned off the AD . . . for now).

I’ve heard a number of folks expressing frustration with their current State of the Body.  It’s a hard time of year to be motivated:  winter has kicked many of our patooties, the sun has not come to energize us, and who wants to go running when you get mud trackmarks up your workout clothes (that don’t fit anymore anyway and are more suited for a land that has sun and seasons – i.e. Idaho)?

So, I’m seeking your best get-motivated/start-eating-better/lose-the-junk advice.  And not the typical “moderate levels of activity/healthy balanced meals” advice – I know that.  See, I am a child of the times:  short — attention — span.  Also, I’m a total sucker for packaging:  if I see “new formula” or “updated design,” I’m totally bought.  And I don’t think I’m the only one.

So, what’s something new that I can do this season?  It doesn’t have to be *new*new – just new to me.  What is something specific that works for you, and how do you stay motivated?

When I was in high school, my friend Hilahonda liked to sing the song by Ween in her teeny tiny little singing voice:  “Push th’ little daisies and make them come up.”  It was very precious.

We did make daisies come up, though.  See, I went to high school in the Northwest in the late 90′s, i.e. height of Grunge.  My friends and I got school clothes from Savers/Value Village (depending on what state you live in), we listened to 970 The Beat, and we mainly wore Converse shoes (well, some Birks and Docs were thrown in for good measure).  But wearing Converse shoes, the cheapest and most floppy of all footwear statements, wasn’t enough:  we had to personalize them by embroidering.  What did we put on them?  Sunshines.  Zigzag patterns.  Daisies (aw, how precious).

I ran into a friend from high school a while ago.  He remembered Hil and I with our decorated footwear and commented on how he still had his.  “Your what?”  “My Converse that you decorated for me.”  “We what?”  “Yeah, you guys put flowers and designs and stuff all over them.  I love them.  I still have them.”  I swear I never did drugs:  and though he did, I still believe him even though I can’t remember doing it.

Converse apparently got wind of our artistic expressions and decided to capitalize on our idea a decade late.  Pretty cool, but pretty spendy – *and* you don’t get to hear Hil sing Ween, and that’s worth so much more than choosing the color of the tongue of your shoe.

Note to self:

It is good to check blog statistics, to figure out who comes to your site through what searches.

It is interesting to find out that one of the search phrases is “chicks who like to double team,” particularly considering the site they came to is more theological in nature and *never* has put those words together in order to create that particular phrase.

It is fun to IM your husband to share in the laugh/patheticness of many googlers.

It is bad to IM your husband when he is in the midst of giving a work presentation on SQL searches, using his computer which is hooked up to a projector for all of the class to see.
It’s even worse to find out from a co-worker/friend by email and then have to wait for the reaction until he gets home from practice.

Nice IM to Jason in the middle of his SQL presentation. I was HOWLING!

He suggested it be posted here: we’ll see what the verdict is once all parties have arrived home and the level of “you are in SO much trouble!” is assessed.

. . . I was just trying to share my day . . . but not with *everyone* . . .