Before Daylight

Had a strange dream early this morning. Can't really remember it but I do remember that Paul Keeber was there. I was talking to him as well as some other guy. I haven't seen P.K. in years. He is this fantastic salesman that I worked with when I was at Network. He was and probably still is the top sales guy there. Warm, personable, very down to Earth. He always treated me with genuine respect...a rare thing to find in most salespeople. I wonder how his is doing? Guess I should put a call in to say hello. How weird is it to have a dream about former co-workers that you literally haven't seen or spoken to for years?!? It did feel like a good dream though...positive energy.

What an awful thing to hear about Tim Russert's passing! A powerful, gentle, humble journalist who came across to me as a good man. He died doing what he loved doing. My heart goes out to his family.

My mother is on her way over to pick me up so I better get going. I think after this week I'm going to have to limit my time over at the house to once every two weeks. In doing so I am pretty sure some of my weekend stress and/or depression will be reduced. Didn't get my running shoes yet. Not in the budget for this week. Want to make sure I have rent in the bank while continuing to rebuild my savings acct. I also want to start contributing again to my IRA. Today is O'Neil's birthday. While I'm almost sure I'm not even in his thought pattern I still think about him alot. Why are these feelings hard to shake? Snap out of it Ang! Eventually I will. I better go. More tomorrow.

Fathers and Daughters

Short post tonight but I wanted to leave a reminder to myself about something I thought about on the train ride into work. The thought was triggered by a man and a little girl about the age of five. She clearly was his daughter. More tomorrow. My eyes are literally rolling back in my head. Sleepy.

The Joys of Almost Summer

I know what you are going to say. Why would winter girl Ang be writing about a season that is the complete opposite to the one she loves? Well, even though summer is not one of my all time favorite seasons, I can still appreciate the joy that each one has to offer. For example, yesterday was abominably hot yet I enjoyed watching little kids running through the park sprinkler and cooling down. Just pure good old fashioned fun. It made me think, "oh...to be a child again". Then I caught myself laughing at well...myself. What the heck am I saying...I am a big kid at heart! Little Ang is still active and playful. I'm already trying to figure out a good beach day for July. LOL.

The second thing I can appreciate and love about summer is the long bright days she brings. The warm rays of the sun basically scream ENJOY THE TIME (and probably if rays could speak they would tack on the word MORONS to the end of the sentence). In a world where many of us usually complain about time, mother nature once again avails herself to us by way of giving us the perception that there is indeed more time in summer. So why complain about the heat when our brains are literally being tricked into believing that there is more than 24 hours in the day? Just go out and enjoy whatever the day brings you! O.K. I better get going. Dr's appt. later and conference call for volunteer stuff. I have to figure out when i'm going to see Sex and the City before it leave the theater nearest me. Maybe I'll go to the late show tomorrow. Ah...there's that time thing. LOL. Later.

Shirley Chisholm for President

Last day of this oppressive heat here in the five boroughs. I'm sure there will be a natural "fireworks" show tonight like the other night. Like I said before, I am in awe as well as fear of thunder and lightening. I like watching it but then am terrified that a wayward bolt will find its way directly to every cell in my body! I don't even like to talk on my cell phone during storms and those things are wireless! LOL. I'm feeling pretty good today. Not sure if my friend and I will meet up tonight for the bar night gathering. I am looking forward to it while another part of me just wants to go home and cook a really great meal and just relax. Every day I feel like i'm on the go. Tomorrow I have a dr's appt, the next day workout, the day after another appt. Always something. I guess it's good to be busy but on hot days like this...the phrase "lazy days of summer" keeps ringing in my mind. Ha ha.

I did wake up this morning just before 2am with a splitting headache. That's not good when a headache is waking you up. What can you do except take some aspirin and wait for it to go away...which it did eventually. I think I passed out from the pain. Don't remember. Woke up at 6a and couldn't really fall back asleep. It was nice and cold in my space...I was as snug as a bug in a rug...literally. My blanket was wrapped around me as if I was a burrito and my body was very content fully stretched out in the middle of my bed. I remember years ago when I use to sleep only on one side of my bed. Not really sure how I evolved to sleeping right down the middle but it sure does feel good. I think that's why I really don't like guys sleeping over at my place (whenever i'm actually dating someone). I like the comfort of my bed and most guys that I've had over want to hog it and leave me teetering on the edge...again literally as well as figuratively. Well...that issue isn't a problem at least for now.

Now that it's down to Obama and McCain, i'm really interested in seeing who each selects as a running mate. Both candidates are polar opposites of each other...especially when it comes to the subject of health care. Obama is proposing universal health care for all citizens while McCain wants more choices for affordable health care. While each option has its pros and cons, it will be interesting to hear more on what the details of each proposal will be. I wonder when the two will hold their first debate. Even in terms of style, both are so radically different. Obama with his rock start type large crowds compared to McCain's town hall style meetings. Personally while the town hall meetings are more intimate than larger mass gatherings, candidates that do that undermine the American people by automatically weeding out dissenting voices.

Oh! Before I forget, I want to make note that while I am happy to see more women vying for the White House including Hillary Clinton...she did not make history in the sense of being the first woman to run. The first woman seek the Democratic nomination was an African American woman. Shirley Chisholm made a vie for the nomination in 1972...a much more hostile political time and knew that she would not get the nomination. She did it to show others that if one remains determined, anything is possible. In fact, the first woman ever to run for president was Victoria Woodhull one hundred years earlier so even Chisholm can't technically say first woman but rather first African American woman. I find it interesting that none of the news outlets even bothered to do any research. Or perhaps they just felt that it needed to be overlooked because it was an African American woman who went after it first. Maybe I missed the news coverage that day since I keep hearing everyone saying that Hillary Clinton is the first woman to run. She is not. If anything, Chelsea Clinton can say she is the first and so far only person to have had both parents run for the presidency. The Clintons can say they are the first couple to run for the same office (presidency). However in terms of Hillary she can't take that title away from Shirley Chisholm.

Week 1- Day 1

The goal for week one is to do 36 minutes of walking/running. Two minutes of walking followed by one minute of running. 12 sets. I was only able to do 8 sets today....24 minutes. Walk pace was 3.2 MPH and run pace of 4.2 MPH. In the total 24 minutes I completed 1.25 miles. Initially I was bummed because I was like it's more walking than running so I should be able to do the full 12 reps. But now I'm like...cool beans...I did 75% on the first day. Not bad for me since I am overweight and don't have the proper running shoes yet. I was starting to feel dizzy about 23 minutes into the routine so I slowed down and stopped. Sat for about five minutes and drank some water.

I also wore my pedometer today. I looked at it after I walked home from workout and my total number of steps for today was 11, 492. Cool beans. I think everyone is supposed to get in 10,000 steps a day so that's good. I am feeling achy in my back and some strain in the injured right ankle. I think once I get fitted for the right pairs of running shoes it will not hurt as much.

Found myself stuck in the subway system for over an hour. Took me about an hour and 15 minutes to get home. Not sure what the heck was going on with the trains. Then when I came in, cable and internet was down too! Boy oh boy. As a result of being delayed on the trains, I felt myself racing to get in something to eat before going to workout. Got in a banana smoothie and a piece of turkey bacon plus more water before I walked back out into that heat. Kind of felt like I had a workout before the workout since my walk is about 15 minutes and it was so humid out. O.K. better figure out what to wear tomorrow as well as wash the blender and dishes in the sink. Going to make sure to watch the news in a few and go to sleep.

SHHHHHHHHHH

8:20am...You know what I noticed just this morning? For the last week and a half, when I am getting ready for work, I have been doing so in silence. Normally when I wake up I have the radio on listening to Steve Harvey in the morning as background noise. Now that I'm thinking about it all last week and part of the week before I didn't turn it on. Just went about my morning routine in silence. Interesting. Not really sure what prompted me to start doing this but it just is so. It's actually nice. My quiet time with me. Today starts my 13 week walk/run program. I know I can do this! Oh...time is escaping...better go if I want to make it to work on time. Will revisit this post at lunchtime.

9:30am...So coming in to my workstation was a surprise in and of itself. Almost all of the stuff from the floor was placed literally on top of the desk where I sit. Must have cleaned the floors which is great but it would have been helpful if everyone was notified so that whatever was on the floor could have been moved more strategically. It grosses me out when crap is placed on top of someones workstation and then you have to move it all off and disinfect! EU! There was a phone now added to my desk. What? I'm starting to have an identity here?!? LOL. Nice. Anyway, no complaints...just peeked in at the little ones down the hall...adorable. How can one be angry after seeing the energy and newness in crawlers and toddlers? (smile). Well, I started my pre-sweat sweat on the subway ride and walk to the building. It's humid outside. You know what's so funny. I know I'm sweating normally just like everyone else but why does everyone else look all cool and stuff? Maybe i'm the eternal geekette. I actually looked at myself in the mirror as I was doing my normal "wash the train off your hands" routine and I looked like I was "glistening" rather than sweating? Is that really possible? Maybe because I have a summer look about me that that's why I thought that. Oh well..whatever the reason I like it. It's a positive perspective. O.K. more at lunch.

3:10pm...relatively quiet day. I'm in a holding pattern on two projects since my work can only get done based on information from two other people who are procrastinating. No worries for me. So the other temp that was here is no longer here. He was only here for a week. Kind of a nervous type. Commuted from L.I. He came in to do grantwriting but he didn't seem that confident with his writing abilities. They have like a million grants that have to get written. I told Elize that I don't mind working on the micro grants since personally while tedious sometimes, money adds up. 2K here, 3K there. It does translate into more money. They've been keeping me busy with projects so that's always a good sign that they'll keep me around for a while. I'm projecting that by the end of summer I can finally get my credit cards paid off again. Not a lot of cc debt but still I don't like having it. However in my case Suze Orman does say it's o.k. to use the cards for living expenses if necessary on a case by case basis. I think food qualifies as a case by case. LOL. Also in the process of rebuilding my emergency fund. $200 bucks certain doesn't q

Hotter than H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

Holy Moley...it's hot outside! Day two of the heat wave. Oh my...lightening outside. Going to log off for a few!

10:30pm...O.K. so I'm back ever so briefly... I am still in awe and in fear of lightening. Call me crazy. I still turn off all major appliances and electronics when there is even the hint of lightening. Still little flashes outside but I had to turn the air back on because it is literally blazing up here! Oye! Couldn't find a good pair of running shoes that I liked so that project will have to be completed this upcoming weekend when I head out to the island. In the meantime my current pair of sneakers will be fine for walking. The weekend was realtively quiet. Read alot on Saturday and did laundry. Today just chilled. I'm happy that my workout days have been scheduled and for the most part I have healthy food in the house so that's good. I'm excited and slightly scared for this next venture I'm taking on. I know I can and will do it. Hopefully injury free. It's late. Better get ready for bed.