10 on Tuesday

1. I like this recent “heat wave”. Especially when I don’t have to walk 10 miles in it.

2. A co-worker (for two more days) of mine is leaving next week on an amazing trip where she’ll be working towards restoring a near-extinct tropical forest in India, while living in an eco-village. That’s a very brief description of what she will doing, so please check out that link to learn more. She’s having a fundraiser on Thursday at the Nexus Green Building Resource Center here in Boston. If you’re also here in Boston, you should come and support her.

3. Someday, I hope that I get to write this post on my blog. Hopefully “someday” comes sooner rather than later.

4. I was bummed to see this article in the Dorchester Reporter about graffiti along the bike path and park near us. We walk the path every Tuesday and Thursday (or at least most of them) for my 3 Day training, and I’ve always loved the murals along there. Sometimes people suck.

5. Am I the only one not freaking out about swine flu?

6. I did three loads of laundry on Saturday – all sheets and towels (and duvet cover). I meant to do at least one load of clothes as well, but I was so annoyed with the dryer situation. 6 brand new dryers in the laundry room. 2 not plugged in. 2 not reading the laundry cards. 1 filled with someones unmentionables and left there for who knows how long. I still haven’t done my laundry. but have no fear – I won’t have to call out of work naked after all! The clothes I ordered online last week were delivered and everything fits, so I should be good for another day or two at least.

7. Am I the only one that puts off doing laundry as long as possible every time?

8. When I got my massage last week, Stephanie told me that my shoulders were significantly worse than they’ve been in a long time. I was hoping for the opposite, because I’ve been walking pretty regularly and doing yoga videos at home 2-3 times a week for the last few weeks. Apparently it wasn’t helping quite so much. :( This week that has become super evident, as I’ve been fighting the headache-coming-on feeling for a few days now.

9. Speaking of yoga, my friend Kate is finishing her yoga teacher training this Sunday. I’m very excited to be joining in the graduation celebration with her (and her hubby, yeah Justin!). I’m also very jealous, because some days I dream about being a yoga instructor.

10. Have you read A Long Way Gone yet? I gave it to Pete for his birthday a few years ago (you know, when it was the most recent Starbucks promotion) and meant to read it once he finished it. I finally picked it up this past weekend and it’s an amazing story. Not warm and fuzzy and heart warming, but amazing.

10 on Tuesday


1. My new cell phone left Santa Clarita, CA, last night at 8:52 PM. I do believe I’ll continue to stalk that purchase until it arrives. Hopefully prior to this weekend, but I’m not holding my breath.

2. If I have time this weekend, I’m going to paint the wall in my kitchen orange. I’m nervous that with the new (brighter) light fixture it’s going to be too bright and crazy. Guess there’s only one way to find out!

3. I have back to back baby showers this weekend, and I’m excited for that. Baby shower #1 is Jack & Jill and baby shower #2 is girls only, so it will be a nice chance to hang out with everyone over the weekend. I am not excited to be getting up early to do my walking before all the baby shower prep and actual baby showering.

4. My hair is growing like crazy lately. I swear it didn’t grow out this quickly last time I got it cut, and she even cut it shorter this time than last! Crazy. It grows out really well though. If anyone in Boston needs a hair dresser, I’ve got one for you who is awesome. And used to live in the building I do now. And prior to that lived on the same street on JP that I did. If I continue to move to the same neighborhoods/buildings she does, it seems I’ll be moving to the South End next. I wouldn’t complain (but I would be broke).

5. Oh my, friends! It is one heck of a tear inducing Biggest Loser this week. Makeovers with reveals/reunions? Yup, I’m done. Someone get me some tissues.

6. On the way home from work, I sat next to a woman on the T who was making condolence calls. As in “I’m so sorry to hear about your father’s death, it’s such a huge loss to the community.” Um…don’t we think there’s maybe a better time and place for making a call like that? As in not while the driver is announcing that we’ll be standing by due to a medical emergency at Ashmont?

7. I did yoga last night (thanks Yoga Today!), and it started with some intense ab work. Well, at least intense to me who hasn’t done any ab work in years. I have paid for that all day today every time I laugh or cough. I can also feel it in my hips and legs, and it’s good. More tomorrow I think. Hopefully without the ab work. Owie.

8. Pete and I saw a bird that we cannot identify in the river on our way home from our walk tonight. If you know who this guy is, please share. Not the Canada Goose, we know who he is (he’s also the daddy to the eggs that his honey is currently sitting on!).

9. We have so much chocolate in the house it’s ridiculous. I also have a stash in my drawer at work. It completely counteracts the fact that I’ve been drinking less Starbucks and Coke, and having salad with lunch most weekdays. I will be happy when it runs out and I can try to be healthy again.

10. I realize this will be shocking to many of you, but I’m actually struggling to come up with a 10 here tonight, so I’m going to bed. Peace out homies. Oh, and make sure you look back – I’ve caught up with posts from last weekend through today.

10 on Tuesday

1. I got a customer sat survey from Starbucks the other day when I was there, and you get a free beverage if you take the survey and write the little code it gives you on your receipt. I redeemed that today, and I think my chai tasted better because it was free.

2. I did 3 loads of laundry last night. I also threw out a number of socks that were holey, and put in a bag a number of clothing pieces that I haven’t worn in years or don’t need (seriously, how many pairs of pajama pants does a person need?!). If I can do a load of sheets and towels and a load of delicates tonight, I think that will get rid of every. single. pile. of (my) clothes that have been littering the bedroom for weeks. It is AMAZING how much nicer the bedroom is without piles of clothing everywhere. For the record, Pete is not the offender here, it’s entirely me.

3. Some of you know that I’ve been working on the Apartment Therapy Home Cure, and so have been chipping away at cleaning, decluttering, and making some overall improvements around the house. I get so excited every time I finish something that it catapults me into the next something, and I’m loving it! Over the weekend I: removed the bookshelf from the top of the stairs, replaced it with the bookshelf that was beside the front door, hung a shelf next to the door where the bookshelf used to be (to be joined by hooks for my purses), replaced the kitchen light fixture (lead to cleaning the counters – a well lit kitchen makes it harder to ignore a not clean kitchen!), tightened the wobbly legs on the coffee table (lead to dusting and decluttering the shelf underneath…goodbye 200+ CDs I haven’t touched in years, goodbye puzzle that has been in progress for four years!), and cut out paper in the shape of the frames to be hung on the wall above Pete’s desk and tested out arrangements. I can’t wait to get more done this weekend. Eventually, our apartment will not look like a slob (that’s me, not Pete) lives there.

4. Speaking of this weekend, the lovely Ros will be in town from Melbourne, and I’m very excited about that. And not because she’s restocking my Caramello Koala and Violet Crumble stash, but because it’s been a year since she moved back home, I don’t know when I’ll see her again, and I miss her!

5. I bought a new pillow over the weekend, and it’s made for some very good nights’ sleep. Note to self: buying the $7 pillows from Target is not worth it, spring for the $25 pillows at Ikea.

6. I posted a training walk for this Saturday morning – 8 AM on the Charles…the loops is 7.5 miles but can be shortened to 6, 4.5, or 2 miles. If you’re local and interested in joining shoot me an email and I’ll get you the info. You don’t have to be walking the 3 Day to join us, you just have to be over 16 and sign a liability waiver. But you should walk the 3 Day, too…

7. Pete and I watched Quantum Solace on Sunday night, and it wasn’t that good. Maybe Bond movies need to be seen in the theater since the action is really the highlight?

8. I have pictures from the weekend to post here, but I haven’t edited them yet. Hopefully I’ll catch up this weekend. I’m also posting this without a photo because I didn’t take any pictures today and I’m curled up on the couch under a blanket, too comfy to get up now.

9. Anyone else think the drama on Biggest Loser is kicking up to a ridiculous notch? Yeah, I could live without it. Wallaby, wanna watch with me next week? I’ll make choco chip cookies for our dose of unhealthy.

10. Baseball season is in full swing (ha!) at our house – Pete has subscribed to MLB TV and has had his second monitor playing baseball games for the last two nights. Unfortunately they black out games that you can watch locally, which means audio only for Red Sox games. Better than the crappy reception from the radio we used to listen on.

10 on Tuesday

1. Shout out! I’m so excited to see that Swifty has started posting his 10 on Tuesday – thanks for joining my, Swifty! And no wonder we’re friends, because I kept reading his and being like “that’s so awesome…I totally agree…yup, right on….”

2. Tonight while walking with Pete, I learned a lot about baseball stats (and fantasy baseball). I’m pretty sure that if Dad takes up fantasy baseball, he could make a lot of money. Potentially more than consulting in Kyrgyzstan, and with a lot less flying and foreign food.

3. I posted my first official 3 Day training walk for this Saturday, and hopefully I get a decent turnout. Really, if anyone shows up I’ll be happy. It’s a short one – 4 miles (with Starbucks halfway, yum!) – and hopefully that doesn’t deter people. Also, if you’re local and want to join us I can email you details. Friends and family are welcome as long as you’re willing to sign the liability waiver!

4. My toes are cold.

5. We are officially out of Girl Scout cookies. The booth sales are few and far between these days, so hopefully I can get my hands on some more before they’re gone again for the year. How much money is too much money to spend on Girl Scout cookies over the course of a year? I read in the elevator that their cookie sales were being affected by the economy, so I’m trying to do my part to help them out.

6. I just realized that some people probably don’t know what I’m talking about when I say “I read in the elevator…”. We have those handy screens that have news headlines and current event blurbs and lots of random info. It’s probably my main source of news most days. Non-local news, at least.

7. Sarah B shared this video recently, and it’s pretty mind blowing. Volume not needed, sfw, and all that crap:

8. I bought a new bath mat (so that it actually matches the shower curtain now), and it’s super soft. It makes getting out of the warm shower less horrible in the mornings. It also, apparently, makes a nice place for a napping Champ.

9. March Madness has fully invaded our house (Pete’s bracket was busted last weekend, if you care)…I came home from work tonight and Pete was playing basketball with his Nerf ball and hoop. And then he knocked over a glass of water on the coffee table. Lucky for him, the Tivo remote survived the flood.

10. I’ve been working on cleaning, decluttering, organizing, and prettifying the house since we decided to stay another year. This includes addressing the funky shaped wall that I’ve ignored and left blank for the last two years. I started gathering a few things to add to what we already had to hang a gallery style wall, kinda like this. The first one that I ordered came today, and that’s the picture you saw before you started reading this post (ten hours ago). One more print is on it’s way and then it’s time to figure out how I want to arrange them on the wall and start hanging them. And maybe buy one more piece, depending on space.

10 on Tuesday


1. Look at me, back to the right days of the week again! :)

2. Let’s start with how Barley has been spending at least 75% of every day asleep on top of the orange blanket for the past few days. It’s been warmer so the blanket has been folded on the back of the couch rather than on my lap most of the time, and Barley is not willing to share. Sometimes Champ jumps up almost on top of him (I think to try and get him to wake his ass up and play with her), but he doesn’t usually give up any territory to her.

3. Pete and I re-signed our lease today. We’re excited about that on a few fronts….first because we got the mgmt company to lower our rent increase, second because we also gave them a list of repairs we haven’t called in yet and are excited to get those fixed, and third because it means we don’t have to move. No moving is awesome, because Pete and I have very different moving styles. By that I meant that he would pack three weeks in advance and then sleep on the floor and eat off paper plates until we move, whereas I would pack slowly in the last three weeks and leave 1 of all the necessities unpacked until the last day so that we don’t have to live like squatters.

4. Training for the 3 Day has begun (and that’s a whole other blog that needs updating), and so far so good! I’ve managed to recruit one more team member to walk with us, and have one more person thinking about it. The weather is slowly warming up and the walks are slowly getting longer. I still need to sort out walking plans for this weekend, but I’m super excited to be training in the same city I’m walking in so that I have lots of training buddies on the same schedule as me this year.

5. Surprisingly, there are still a number of Girl Scout cookies in our freezer. I think Pete had to pick his jaw up off the floor when he was getting some out for himself today and I told him I didn’t want any. Frankly, I surprised myself a little bit there.

6. Please note that the above is especially surprising given that it’s Biggest Loser night. Maybe even more surprising given that I’m also watching last week’s episode as well as tonight’s. I like that I can actually watch Biggest Loser twice as fast on Tivo, and watching two weeks at a time is really nice – start the previous week’s episode at 8, finish it at 9 and then start from the beginning of the current episode and finish that at 10. I think this says a lot about the amount of commercials and repetitive footage that they show. Seriously.

7. I saw this quote today and thought “truest words ever spoken”: There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want. Bill Watterson

8. I’m a little upset with the President for his 8:00 news conference that pushed back Biggest Loser by an hour and is keeping me up past my bedtime. I’m equally upset at AIG for causing all the ruckus that inspired the news conference.

9. You know what’s hot? Pete washing dishes. Yup.

10. Good night!