Mental Exercise

"There is no snooze button on a hungry cat." ~ Twitter friend whosthatgirl2

Stormy has the uncanny ability (this week, at least) to wake me up approximately 10 minutes before my alarm goes off.  His methods vary, but his latest is jumping up about 5 feet vertically to attack a spot on the wall and loudly landing with a thump and the feline eqivalent of an "OOF". Repeatedly.

Sure, waking up at 6.45 isn't too bad -- but I had another night in which it took a while to stop the litany of items marching in circles in my head. It went a little  something like this:

Never going to be in shape in time for the run - but that's okay, I don't have to be in the run - I would hate to disappoint anyone - Nobody to disappoint, need to focus on what's right for me - Okay, when am I getting the TV from the parents and how - Maybe if I dug my car out - But I don't have a shovel and don't really need to have the car dug out - They said they could help deliver the TV - But what about disposing of the TV - Will have to email building manager again to find out - I hope my car still starts whenever I do start it - But she's a VW, she'll start -  I'll walk to my appointment after work tomorrow - Which shoes do I wear - Roads near me and work are okay, I could wear my heeled boots - But there are still slushy parts and I don't want to ruin the boots - I could wear my hiking boots and carry the heels - Maybe wear pants for a change - I wonder if the site developers fixed that part of the website that was acting strangely - I'll have an email from them about that in the morning or will have to email them - I need to pack for the trip next week - I hope I look okay in a bathing suit ....  [REPEAT]

If I were as physically active as I am mentally, I'd be in peak condition.

On that note, it's time to hit the showers. One thing I forgot to worry about last night:  I have my midyear performance review today.

#snOMG #snOVERIT #snopacalypse

Last Thursday, I left work early - I wasn't feeling too well and was croaking like a frog, which didn't sound too good. As a massive winter storm was approaching, my father took pity on me and brought groceries and medication to my apartment. (I am lucky, spoiled and blessed. I know it.)

The storm hit on Friday and the office closed at noon that day. It hasn't reopened since, as a result of the series of snowstorms that have come through the DC area.

In the past week, I've been able to recover from my cold and catch up on much-needed sleep. I've almost finished reading Bonk, by Mary Roach - which I highly recommend - and have been working on a John Irving novel, as well. My TV died over the weekend, so I've become a bit of a Hulu and youtube addict. And my usual Twitter activities have multiplied (hence the hashtag'd title of this post). I also uncovered some of my favorite Beethoven CD's from college and have been playing them in my ancient stereo. (How retro of me, I know...)

I have been out in my neighborhood to make purchases that I didn't want to request of my doting father - namely, a stop at the liquor store - and have been able to spend time with some of my friends on two occasions. I've even taken care of some work emails.

Dupont Metro 2/09/10

This is all to say that, somehow, I have not gotten cabin fever. As someone who has dealt with loneliness and anxiety in increasing amounts over the past few months, I am pleasantly surprised at how happy I have been this past week. Being sick frustrated me, but knowing that I wasn't going to be able to go to work, anyhow, made it easier for me to give up and let myself... well, be sick. Perhaps I should have taken the time to find out whether or not my gym has been open, but since I've been feeling better, this time off has felt too much like a holiday for that kind of nonsense. (Says the girl with how many weeks until the 10 miler? OY.)

 what would i do without my friends??

Of course, having Stormy here has helped enormously.

A Few Things I Have Learned Recently

~ That I work with some amazing, brilliant and incredibly insightful people - and not just in the DC office, within my immediate surroundings. The two coworkers who were visiting last week helped me realize this... and I'm grateful to them, because it reinforced my love of my work.

~ That I can make myself heard at work, and should do so more often. Sometimes, I really do know what I'm talking about.

~ That dealing with wintry weather in DC is always going to be roaring pain in the ass, from now until eternity. Because every single winter, the fellow residents of my fair home town are shocked and terrified when it snows, the roads freeze, or the weather forecasters simply predict such astounding occurrences. It's awful and hilarious.

~ That I love having a cat -- my cat, this particular cat -- more than I had expected.

~ That I can't buy all of the shoes that I want, because there are people in my life who deserve holiday presents. Even if the shoes are all really, really cute. 

~ That my lack of patience and need for control simply cannot extend to every single aspect of my life. I know this, I've said it before, people have told me this before, this is not really something that I've learned recently... but I still need to remind myself:  There is a process. I have to do it one day at a time.

Winter? Huh?

This week started with the first REAL snowfall in DC this winter. It was all iced over by the next day, and most of the roads and sidewalks remained slippery. And I noticed on my commute to and from work that a significant number of women, of varying ages were wearing rainboots or Uggs -- I counted 10 pairs of Uggs at my Metro station, and five pairs of of rainboots.

While not a fan of Uggs, I will admit that I'm rather jealous of what I imagine are the wearer's warm feet. I'm not sure how I feel about rainboots, style-wise, but I do know that they're not good on ice. I personally wore hiking boots to brave the DC sidewalks, and I'm sure I'm committing a worse style faux-pas than others.

But the most ridiculous thing I've seen this past week: Women wearing heels with no socks or stockings.

Maybe these women don't want to schlep an extra pair of shoes to the office. Maybe they don't have to be on the frozen tundra of our sidewalks very much. But shoes with no socks when it's below freezing? Maybe the answer here is that I'm more of a Jewish Mother than I've realized... but this seems absolutely, utterly and completely ridiculous.

Anyhow. After two days of the cold (and ridiculous footwear, natch) the Boy and I decided to stop talking about him teaching me to snowboard, and actually make a day trip this Saturday to a ski resort for my lesson. We started assembling gear of his that I'd borrow, talked about what I should wear (long underwear, absolutely; fleece would be better than wool; are cashmere socks a bad idea?), and looked up prices for board rentals.

But now, we have to postpone our plans: It's going to be almost 75 in DC tomorrow, and not much colder than that at the mountain. Trust me, I am the last person to complain about nice weather -- when it gets to be spring, I will spend hours rhapsodizing about the warm weather, sunshine and flowers -- but this is insane weather for March.

I suspect the tourists will descend upon us once again. Cherry Blossom season is approaching, and this weekend could be a sneak preview.

I bet they make ridiculous footwear choices, too.

Shoes and Smoking

I wrote an entry last week about the interesting choices that DC women make in footwear during icy weather, but I didn't put it online -- partially from being swamped at work, but also because the weather has been delightfully spring-like for several days now, which made my thoughts (temporarily) irrelevant. But when the weather changes again in a few days, I'm sure the rain boots and Uggs will come out once more, which will provide me with a chance to share those particular musings.

In the meantime, I am fascinated with this article from the American Journal of Epidemiology, about a potential correlation between smoking and HPV:

Is Smoking an Independent Risk Factor for Invasive Cervical Cancer?

The strong correlation between smoking and exposure to oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) has made it difficult to verify the independent role of smoking in cervical carcinogenesis. .... The point estimates increased with increasing age at diagnosis and increasing cotinine level. This study confirms that smoking is an independent risk factor for cervical cancer/SCC in women infected with oncogenic HPVs. These findings emphasize the importance of cervical cancer prevention among women exposed to tobacco smoke.

Evidence that demonstrates the negative consequences of smoking just keep piling up. And when I see how tobacco uniquely effects women, I get more anxious for my friends who smoke. And angry at the tobacco companies ... but I won't go down that route just now.

OBAMA!!!!

The inauguration was amazing. I've never felt so exhilarated by the inauguration of a president! Granted, I did not watch the ceremony as one of the hundreds of thousands of people that gathered on the Mall -- an experience that I know was unlike any other -- but I still feel like I was a part of that incredible day.

My friends and I walked from Dupont Circle to my office on Pennsylvania Ave. At first, we were amazed at the quiet and empty streets:

Then, once we got into my office and joined my coworkers on the balcony, we had an incredible view of everyone on the street below:

I was amazed at how many people had poured into this city, impressed at how smoothly the Army and DC Police were managing the crowds... but ultimately, grateful that I wasn't stuck in those crowds. It was enough for me to watch the President and Vice President be sworn in on CNN, because we could then stand on the balcony to watch his motorcade make its progress from the Capitol to the White House:


We stayed for hours, watching as much of the parade as we could until our faces got too cold to stand outside. Just amazing.

Only in DC ...!

Happy Festivus!

On this day, the 23rd of December -- the day we air our grievances and demonstrate feats of strength under the glorious Festivus Pole -- I would simply like to wish everyone a joyus and wonderful holiday season.