suzyness.com

I’ve been going to the gym nearly every day at lunch for the past 4
months. I’ve had the motivation of an awesome bridesmaid dress that
*almost* fits perfectly, and the general desire to get back in shape.

I started out on the eliptical; “running” about 2 miles a day. I made
excuses that I needed the low impact machine to salvage my already
destroyed knees, but in reality, I was just more comfortable with
eliptical. It’s a ‘girlier’ machine to use, and I felt like I got a
good workout. The treadmill scares me; I’m terrified that I will lose
my balance and fall on my face.

Three months into my workouts, and having seen nearly no results, I
got over my fear of the treadmill and started running. Slowly at
first, around 5mph; kicking it up to 6mph when I felt adventerous.
After a month of using the treadmill, I’m happy to say that I can keep
a regular pace of around 6mph, and can even get up to 7.5mph when I
wanna be showy :)

I’d like to think that others aren’t judgemental while at the gym. Like
it’s some sort of sacred place that removes all sense of shame and
places everyone in the same clique of fitness and general health. But,
alas, I know it’s not. When I’m there, doing my workout thing, there
are others who will look at me with their brow furrowed or a confused
look. I’m no less guilty. But shouldn’t it be a sacred place? Aren’t
we all there for the same reason, and regardless of our methods, be
encouraged and welcomed for trying to get or stay healthy?

Regardless, I continue to go; deal with my fears of falling off the
treadmill, and run my little heart out.

I think my brain is already in Vegas. I’m beginning to feel twinges of
vacation-itis… Tina & I have been working out the logistics for
tomorrow night, and researching our weekend activities online. A true
accountant, I have a binder with print-outs of all of the possible
activities; categorized by food, event, bar, etc.

We’re debating on how much we want to spend on activities while there;
I’d prefer to go and take advantage of the free shows, free drinks
(while gambling), and hit up the bars at night. But there are other
endless possiblities, such as VIP passes for clubs, going to shows,
renting a limo…. ;-) Regardless, we’ll figure it out and have a
great weekend!

Changing topics; I keep getting the “Your mailbox is 90% full” message
on my work computer. This is partially because my auto-archiving is
funky and doesn’t do it right, partly because my email keeps
reimporting duplicate messages and partly because I keep a LOT of my
email. They come in handy later when I have to research an issue from
six months ago. Which happens more often than not here. It’s nice to
have an email to support a statement or claim; gives solid evidence.

So now I’m faced with going through my emails and sorting out the
duplicate and non-pertinent stuff. What a PAIN. Alright, back at it.

I’ve spent the majority of the past few nights on my computer. With
the search for my camera came the inevitable download of pictures,
then the sorting of existing pictures, then categorizing of pictures,
etc. It all kinda went downhill from there.

Next was a continuation of a project started a while back; in an
effort to get my ipod ready for this weekend and to have some killer
“getting ready” music for our hotel room prep time, I started loading
songs on my ipod. Not surprisingly, my ipod & hard drive both
consisted mainly of low energy chill music or high energy punk music.
Not exactly what I was going for. So, I had to turn to my ancient and
well forgotten cds as a resource. Scouring through the pages, I found
suitable albums for the weekend, which then had to be digitized &
uploaded to my ipod. A rather time consuming task.

Playing on my computer brings me a sense of comfort and relaxation
that nothing else even comes close to. I love being able to sort my
pictures, create collages, add music, create playlists, change my
website, chat, blog, whatever, and I haven’t done nearly enough of it
lately. Life has taken priority.

Regardless, I’m excited about my newly re-discovered music collection,
which dates back to college & high school. It should be a great trip
down memory lane.

After a few months of not really searching for my misplaced camera, I decided it was time to look. I couldn’t really remember the last time I’d had it; Ben takes a good number of pictures for the both of us, so it hasn’t really been a necessity. This weekend, however, I’ll be heading to Las Vegas for my best friend’s last attempt at freedom before getting married this September. Four girls… vegas… pictures must be taken. Fortunately my camera was fairly easy to locate… shoved in a box with a few other belongings that still need to find a home somewhere in my office.

This will be my first time flying again after a long dry period. Working for PwC afforded me the opportunity to travel quite often; something I didnt enjoy much. Granted, New York & Chicago were fun places to visit, but I’d rather have been there playing than working. So now, it’s been 6 full months since the last time I was even in an airport. I realized it the other day when I had a phantom waiting for your plane to board sensation. It’s weird, but I actually enjoyed sitting in the airport waiting to leave. It gave me a chance to people watch, enjoy a latte, catch up on phone calls, and just sit and relax. Strange, I know.

The flight to Vegas is a short one; which will be really nice for this trip. We leave from Sacramento on Thursday night and return Sunday night. Being that the flight is so short, it gives us ample time to settle in on Thursday, grab a quick bite to eat, and hit the town! We have tickets to see the Excalibur Tournament of Kings show on Friday night; I’ve never been, but have heard great things about it. The rest of the weekend is pretty much fair game; we don’t really have much planned, which usually makes for a fun & relaxing weekend :)

Alright, it’s 10:30pm, and I’m winding down. It’s been a long day, kiddies. Have a good night ;-)

My head hurts… I’m ready for the weekend again

Alright y’all… big changes happening with my blog… namely…

ANYONE CAN POST COMMENTS NOW!!!!

Initially I’d missed the setting that said “members only” for commenting; but I found it tonight and have changed it!

Enjoy commenting!

I wrote this great blog on my pda on the drive back from Oregon a few weeks ago. It was full detail; giving taste, touch, smell and sound of every occurance in the remaining 2 days that I was there. Coming home, it took me a few weeks to even attempt to sync up my pda with my home computer (I generally sync at work and do most of my changes there). I decided to try syncing through my usb bluetooth device that I’d purchased a few months ago. I’m slow about getting my computer equipment up and running these days. After spending 2 hours trying to get Microsoft Activesync to recognize my pda, I came to the realization that microsoft was not going to allow me to sync up any sort of device without their patented, approved usb/ serial cables. Even though I’d set up bluetooth to act as a serial port, activesync was too smart for me and resisted the serial temptation. Alas, the blog still remains on my pda; probably never to be posted.

Changing topics: It’s been hot here lately. Temperatures have been above 100 degrees most days. The only time I feel the impact of this is on my lunch hour and in the brief departure time between leaving the office and getting into my car. The rest of the day is spent air conditioned or otherwise mostly comfortable. I realize this is a luxury. It’s nice to spend the day being cooled by air that I haven’t paid for; and makes me grin a bit when I think about the money I’m saving by not being at home, using the air there. This thought was on my mind on Monday, when I actually DID stay home, despite my desire to steal away someone else’s air conditioning.

It’s actually a bit odd for me to be back in this weather. I’ve spent four of the past five years in (somewhat) coastal cities. While San Jose was a far cry from San Luis Obispo, it did enjoy the temperate weather that comes with the cool pacific. Being that I’m cold 99% of the time, four of the past five years I’ve been extremely COLD all of the time. I moved back to Sacramento at the cusp of last summer’s arrival. Unfortunately, the rest of the summer I spent in other parts of the nation, and really had no time to enjoy the warm (deathly hot) weather that comes with being a resident of the central valley. Now that I’m not travelling, I’m once again basking in that UV filtered central valley sun.

I remember days in college where I’d come home from classes so frigid and in need of a defrost that I would sit in my 90+ degree room and just lay on my bed until I could feel my fingers and toes again. It’s not that San Luis was extremely cold; it was just never extremely warm. I rather enjoyed not having A/C; and with my room on the second floor of our townhouse, it got nice and toasty in the afternoons. I know this comfort and warmness level will pass soon, so I must enjoy it while it lasts. Soon, I will be cold and in layers again.

I’m spending this weekend surrounded by the beauty and sounds of nature. This morning I enjoyed a breakfast of fruit & pastries on an open deck; the birds chirping all around and scarecly a car driving past.

Dave, Sharaun, Ben & I set out for our lengthy journey up to Oregon on Friday afternoon. Rushing to get my tasks at work completed before my day and a half off; my thoughts were that of reporting, contract audits and the looming changes in our software system that will be occuring over the next few weeks. Leaving work, I was faced with more evidence of a big city… a freeway that resembled a parking lot and drivers swearing at each other. Oh the joys of civilized life.

The next 9 hours were spent in the back seat of an SUV. Enjoying the fact that I didn’t have to drive on this trip, I took the first few hours to catch up on some reading and zzz’s. The further we distanced ourselves from the big city life, the more I noticed the beauty of the hills and lakes surrounding us. Majestic views of Mt. Shasta, wide sprawling fields & beatiful lakes were our backdrop. As we came closer to our final destination, the city life seemed less and less apparent. Instead of angry drivers and parking lot freeways, lush, green trees and far reaching mountains filled the view.

We arrived in Oregon late Friday evening, and Ben & I were dropped off at his parents house. Dave & Sharuan continued on to their final destination. Warey & tired from our trip, but eager to catch up, we spent a few hours chatting with Ben’s parents, then made our final descent to bed.

We awoke Saturday to rather dreary & dismal weather. “Unfortunate” I thought, “but beautiful, nonetheless.” Ben & his parents chauferred me around the town, first to a local breakfast place, then a brief tour of the surrounding town. The rest of the afternoon Ben & I were on our own. We checked out the outlet shopping, stopped at a local farmers fruit market (Bauman Farms) and picked out a delicious assortment of blueberries, loganberries & marionberries.

Ben’s sister, Laura, invited all of us over to her house for a BBQ on Saturday evening. This was my first time meeting Ben’s sister & his nieces. Needless to say, I felt a bit of pressure :) My worries were quickly whisked away within the first few minutes of arriving at his sister’s house. Ben’s nieces were adorable, and I had a great time getting to know everyone.

This morning, I’m sitting out on the deck, enjoying wireless internet & the majestic views ahead of me. It’s a perfect day; incredibly clear and warm. We’ll be heading into Portland in a bit to meet up with Ben’s high school friend and will spend the day tooling around the area.

I don’t know that I’ll have time to write again before we leave, so have a Happy 4th of July!!