Change is in the Air... ??

I think today's sunshine (with the promise of more sun tomorrow) is infusing my outlook with some long lost optimism. Don't get me wrong. I think that I always have some optimism but it's usually an optimism about the state of affairs in the long run. I typically think things like, "So this sucks right but a year from now I won't even remember this. That will be great!" But suddenly, overnight almost, I'm feeling optimistic about the immediate future. Huzzah! I am hoping that this feeling will not be as fleeting as our bouts of of PNW sunshine (Seattle being Seattle does not plan on having this glorious weather beyond Saturday evening.).

With this new found optimism there has also been unprecedented productivity and motivation. Of course, since I understand balance ;), I have made time for a distraction or two. Here's a brief list of what's been distracting me on the interweb this week:

Mama Biscuit might be my favorite interweb discovery EVER. If you know me, and basically everyone who reads this does, then you know that a rescued pug dressed up and photographed by her two gay dads is exactly the type of material I deem "alluring" and "irresistable".

She might be my new best friend. Nevermind the fact that I don't even know her name. She and I have been spending more time together than I spend with my real friends because I can't stop drooling over every single ensemble she concocts.

This Dove ad. Scroll down for the clip from Mr. Stephen Colbert... awesomeness.

Weekend project in for the dining room shelves?

Really into this blog. And this entry in particular tickled me.

Delightful


Happy Friday!

I am starting to lose patience...

I get it Seattle. You have a reputation to uphold. But seriously?

Can somebody spare $180??

So I know I haven't written in awhile. I had actually sort of given up and taken to microblogging. However, I have been receiving texts reading "when are you updating the old lady blog?" and so I thought, "Okay I'll throw my loyal reader a bone." (*note: "reader" singular was not a typo). Anyways, today I stumbled across something that I instantly need to tell people about. Typically I will e-mail a few friends with subject lines reading "!!!!!!!!!!!!!" when I find such things. But I feel like I've been overloading said friends with subject lines reading "!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and "oh em gee incredible!!!!" and so decided to post this on here. Outstanding in the Field calls itself a "roving culinary adventure" where they travel from beautiful location (vineyards, fields) to beautiful location (sea caves, mountain tops) setting up long tables and serving locally grown food prepared by locally renowned chefs. If you know me you know that when it comes to meal time there's very little that I love and appreciate more than a long dining table set rustically!

The best part about Outstanding in the Field is that they are coming to two local farms this summer. As always there's a downside... The cost. How much could it possibly be? Well $180 a person of course. This is completely and utterly out of the question but I can dream. Please drool over the following pictures with me....

Happy Tuesday! I'm out. Post Script: Apologies for small pictures of terrible quality. Not sure how to right this wrong.

Back to the grind...

Hi-ho, hi-ho it's back to work I go. Yes, you read this correctly. I am reporting to you from my downtown Seattle cubicle. Same job. Same cube. Different attitude. Honestly re-employment could not have come a moment too soon. By the end of my stint on "fun"employment I had reached a point of meltdown where not even the funniest episodes of 30 Rock could lift my spirits out of hopeless boredom and constant feelings of futility. But all frustrating periods of enui come to and end and here I am, three days in already looking forward to the weekend.

Weekends hold a whole new meaning for me now that I have just emerged from what seemed to be an eternal weekend. Weekends have their time and they have their place - two (sometimes three) days at the end of the week. They are something to cherish and they are something get excited for but if every day were a weekend then what would you have to look forward to? I'll tell you what you would start looking forward to. You would start looking forward to going to work and that's just sick. Take it from me.

Anyways this weekend here are a few things I am giddily waiting for:

1. Trying on this little gem at Madewell. After months of not earning a pay check I'm pretty sure it's my duty to start making up for lost time and giving back to the economy... {my home away from home... i.e. madewell }

2. I'm trying to cut back on coffee (a horrible stereotypical Seattle habbit I picked up after moving here) but I've been pretty good this week and I'm thinking when Saturday hits I'm due a tall, sugar free vanilla, soy capuccino. Also after switching to drip in an effort to be a little more recessionista I'm looking forward to welcoming back a frou frou drink or two.

3) Cooking and new and seemingly delicious recipe like this "New Year Noodle Soup" that I've had starred on my google reader for awhile.

{101 Cookbooks}

Hope everyones workweeks/non-workweeks are swimming along.

4x4 Beauty...

The beautiful "urban Christmas tree" you see pictured above was described over the weekend as a "ghetto Christmas tree". I'm still smarting a little from my house guest's ignorant comment but what can you do? There really is no accounting for taste or a lack of imagination!

39 Minutes To Spare...

As I tucked myself into bed this evening I reflect on all of my accomplishments from the day...
1) Informational interview with a delightful retired social worker and her cats!
2) Played receptionist at the senior center and made great strides in the New York Time's cross word puzzle while there.
3) Researched graduate programs
4) Watched Glee.

And just as I was about to flip off the lights I realized I had forgotten my newest to do task "Stay true to my promises"...

So here I am a daily update. By the way the books I decided to start reading are as follows
- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (I already read about 3/4s of it but left it on a plane. This new copy I'm not letting go of!)
- Paula by Isabel Allende. (Apparently I like memoirs written by women when their daughters are gravely ill. Last year at this time I was reading The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Merry Christmas!)

I will post tomorrow!!

I'm Trying, I'm Trying...

It's always a mistake to make promises in absolutes. For example, in my last entry I promised daily updates on my new life of leisure -- that post was one whole week ago. From now on I promise to not make promises I don't intend to keep and at the time I had absolutely no intention of actually writing daily. I just said that to appease you. Apologies. But I've grown up and I am now ready to make a vow to write daily.

Moving on. So that you all don't worry I can tell you that one week into unemployment and I'm feeling pretty good. I spent some quality time with the seniors last week. Me and my troup of elders experiencing the early stages of memory loss wrote a poem or two, sang along to some lovely banjo strumming, and even line danced a bit. Outside of my time at the senior center I've been so busy brunching, lunching, and feeling festive I've had barely a moment to reflect on my current state of borderline destitution (I jest, I jest. I'm collecting unemployment people so clearly I'm rolling in cash!).

Now that the novelty of not having to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day has started to wane I'm ready to really take advantage of this valuable period of freedom and start accomplishing and exploring in ways I can't when I'm bogged down with 40 hours of employment. Perhaps each day I can add one thing to my to do list (back to that failed to do list from my last post!). Today I can start simple...

- Start reading a book that doesn't have to do with the following:
old people, aging, psychology of aging, dementia, depressed caregivers, happy caregivers, medicare...

This sounds do-able. After I select an appropriate literary masterpiece I will update my loyal , no matter how miniscule, readership.

Until next time -- and by next time I clearly mean tomorrow!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Old Lady In Training