Category Archives: Random thoughts

Random thoughts

Great Ice Storm of Aught-Two

Today is the beginning of what looks to be a pretty nasty storm.  We’re starting with some freezing rain, adding in a little sleet, a “mixed bag” if you will, followed by a foot or so of snow. 

The impending ice storm reminds me of the Great Ice Storm of 2002, which took place when I lived in Charlotte, NC.  I lost power for five days and had to sleep on a variety of friend’s couches.  Of course, I was grateful to have friends to stay with—other (I presume less friendly and less polite?) people were not as lucky as I was.   Trees covered in ice, power lines downed (do you drive over them or not?  I stupidly chose YES a few times…how is it I am still alive?), branches littering and blocking the streets…it was pretty awesome!

I can’t find my own pictures from the storm (this was before digital cameras and I didn’t even own my own computer yet) so I will instead share some I found online:

imageimageimageimage

(note to reader:  most of those photos are not of Charlotte…and I’m pretty sure that cow one is shopped)

The night of the ice storm I went over to a friend’s house for an “ice storm” party like you would expect from a group of 20-somethings.  We had beer and snacks, crashed on the couches at some point, and during the night kept being awakened by snaps, crackles, and ultimately a BOOM that was likely a nearby breaker blowing.  When we awoke there was no electricity, in fact…1.3 million people were without power. Luckily it wasn’t that cold outside—I was able to leave my cats in my apartment, and the place never got below 50 degrees.  I stayed with a few different people (I kept moving around as new friends regained power as to not inconvenience too many people), and finally my power came back on. I remember that was a great day…

from http://www.charlotteuptown.info/CharlotteHistory.html (perhaps the best part is that this website references wikipedia!)

In December 2002, Charlotte (and much of central North Carolina) was hit by a massive ice storm (which some dubbed, "Hugo on Ice") that knocked out power to over 1.3 million Duke Energy customers. According to a Duke Energy representative: "This ice storm surpasses the damage from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which had 696,000 outages." During an abnormally cold December, many were without power for more than two weeks. Much of the damage was caused by Bradford pear trees which, still having leaves on December 4, split apart under the weight of the ice.

Suffice it to say that I most certainly hope we don’t lose power (they are certainly threatening it) and if we do, I hope not for long.  People here in St. Louis keep referencing the Ice Storm of 2006 (I refuse to use the word Great in front of it as I did not personally experience this).  I believe Chris lived downtown at the time and I recall he mentioned this, but he didn’t lose power, unlike 500,000 customers.  Living downtown certainly has its advantages!

(I do not live downtown now.)

Random thoughts

Weak wrists

I’m feeling old and whiny tonight.  I’m tired, I am still annoyed at this morning’s classes, and I have some aches and pains.

My wrist still hurts and now I have a bit of a blister on the bottom of my foot from today’s run. 

Foot: I’m thinking either I need to retire my blue Mizuno shoes OR switch to a different sock.  I have been wearing cotton (the horrors!) socks, and I noticed today’s pair was a bit stretched out as well, but I couldn’t do anything about it as I was changing at the gym.  I have a few pairs of synthetic socks, but I’m not a huge fan of any I have as they seem to slide around.  Maybe I should keep trying.  Suggestions?  As far as the shoes go, I have another pair.  I also plan to take my old shoes back to the running store and make sure my shoe is still the best one for me—my feet were pretty sore by the end of the half-marathon, but that’s probably normal, right?

Wrist:  I don’t know why it’s bothering me now…I haven’t been playing {violin} enough to cause problems. 

I have a history of problems with this wrist, starting back in, oh, 1991?  And on and off, ever since, particularly freshman year of college and while I was in the Charlotte Symphony.  I’ve been diagnosed with bursitis, tendonitis, and general overuse. Violin playing (for me, and many others) is fraught with injuries.  My right wrist is my biggest weakness, though by no means my only trouble zone.

However, I haven’t had any real problems with this wrist in several years, so I hadn’t thought about it until the other week when I woke up with pain in my wrist.  I thought maybe I had slept on it funny, so I ignored it for a few days.  I don’t know what caused it, but I do know what I should do.

Rest.  I’ll just have to be extra careful for a few weeks, at least.  That probably means no burpees.  OH NO!  (burpees are a torturous move incorporating an up-down, push-up, and a jump.  Mike loves them.  That is, he loves making me do them.  I can’t speak for his own workout regime.)  Stupid weak wrists.  I’ve also slept in my wrist brace for two nights, and I’ll continue that again tonight and probably for a few more days or longer. 

Lucky I “just” teach now, and don’t have to play violin for a living.  Winking smile  Small victories, right? 

Random thoughts

Friends

While driving to work today, I was thinking about different kinds of friends. 

In a somewhat unparticular order, but a little bit particular:

Work friends:  this is different than colleagues.  Colleagues refers to everybody, work friends are those people you always chitchat with at work, but would be unlikely to hang out with anywhere else.  This idea can extend further, for instance, coffee shop friends and gym friends, though perhaps to a lesser degree, as you might spend less time in those places (unless you are like me, and spend many hours per week at the gym!)

Old friends:  Friends from previous times in your life.  I generally keep in touch with these people via Facebook, as I have moved quite a few times in my life.  Many old friends might be great friends if we lived in the same city, others are from a time and place in the past and would not be so close even if the distance didn’t exist.

Old friends are slightly different than College friends, though there is a fair degree of overlap.  It just depends on when we met. 

Lunch friends: Often these are work friends who you are trying to become better friends with.  You meet for lunch, or perhaps coffee, OUTSIDE of work.  (For me, most people start as work friends—when you work in a million different places, you meet a lot of people!) 

Occasional friends:  People who are busy but when you get together you have a great time.  Maybe you only see them a couple times a year…and neither of you makes enough effort to get together more often.  Perhaps you were good friends at one time, perhaps you were only lunch friends or work friends.

Good friends:  These are people that you see weekly, or at least try to.  You share quite a bit about yourself.  You meet for drinks or dinner, or have them over to your place.  You know when they go on vacation, you might even take care of their pet.

Best friends:  People that you can call any time, for any reason.  That you don’t have to clean your house for. Because you are no longer trying to impress or fake it for them, you are simply you and they are your friend despite that.  

Parting thoughts:  the older I get, the harder it is to make new friends.  After I first moved to St. Louis, I would be exhausted from trying to get to know people and let them get to know me.  It really is a lot of effort!  I figure we’ll end up moving again as soon as I have a few really good friends.

That’s sad, isn’t it?  I didn’t mean it to be.  Just thinking out loud here!  GOOD DAY!

robottaco

(unrelated, but delightful!)

Random thoughts

Happiness Project Part 1

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From Gretchen Rubin’s site:

A “happiness project” is an approach to changing your life. First is the preparation stage, when you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness. Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions.

I already have my “2011 goals” post to refer to—but part of that post is to create my own happiness project.  Let’s get started!

Okay, so, what brings me joy, satisfaction, and engagement?

(in no particular order, brainstorming!)

clean clothes, a clean house

a fresh pile of books to read, reading those books

my cat

planning a vacation, going on a vacation

calendars, making lists, checking things off lists

relaxed time with friends

rehearsals that make me feel like my education was worthwhile, being asked for new gigs

teaching students who practice, who enjoy and love music

moving money from checking to savings

trying new restaurants

working out with my trainer, my spinning class, new workout clothes, following my workout schedule

a fresh pot of coffee

cooking new foods, baking new goodies

 

Next, what brings me guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse?

staying up too late, wasting time

too full trashcans

forgetting to bring something to read

procrastinating

buying stuff I don’t really need

spending more money than I should

eating junk food, eating too much fatty foods

not preparing for classes enough

forgetting to return phone calls in a timely manner

snapping at Chris

not being “friendly enough” at parties or other events

not practicing enough

using too much paper

having to cancel or reschedule appointments

being afraid to drive in the snow

getting sick

biting my fingernails, picking at my cuticles

 

So, do most of the things on my 2011 goals/resolutions post follow these guidelines?

I think they do!  I guess I know myself pretty well.

Random thoughts

The Little Things

I appreciate the little things.

I follow a blog where the blog owner (Julie @ savvyeat.com)encourages readers to submit pictures/short stories about “little things” that they appreciate along the way.  I was featured on today’s entry.  It has to do with Southwest Airline’s “Plane crackers”—I encourage you too click through.

I suppose I’m trying to develop more a community for myself online.  That’s what the widgets on my blog are about, getting involved with other people with similar interests.  But not TOO involved, you know ;)  I don’t plan to start flying around the world attending blog conferences or getting all kinds of free products to review.  Unless you want to send me on trips or send me free products to review, I’d totally do it.  Or free violin strings would be fantastic, or rosin, or perhaps a lightweight portable stand or stand light?  Anybody?

No, it’s fine, it’s fine.  I do work.  *grumbles*

I was happy to get back to my gym today—ran/walked 1 mile and worked out with Mike.  For some reason he decided to focus on squats today.  I wore my Phoenix shirt though, so I felt very accomplished…even though it meant I was wearing a navy shirt with black shorts.  And of course my awesome purple shoes.

I do love these shoes.  And I hadn’t worn them in over a week! 

Phoenix, Random thoughts

Home from Phoenix

My, it’s good to be home!

My flight was on time, though my car at the lot was covered in a whole bunch of snow.  I should have taken a picture, but I was cold, tired, and desperate to just get the darn thing cleaned off.  15 minutes later…I was on my way home for real.  The roads weren’t too bad—I had been worried since I knew that morning had been awful and many schools and businesses had been closed.

Traveling made my eating day super weird.  I had two meals and two large snacks.  I considered going to the gym for a run tonight…oh, wait.  No, I didn’t.  Well, I might have entertained that thought VERY briefly, but ruled it out based on: a) meeting Mike tomorrow and b) cold, tired, snowy, and probably too soon to run again?  I am happy to be home to my own fridge though…I am going to be very strict with my diet for the next few days, at least.

I finished rereading “Teaching from the Balance Point” by Ed Kreitman while on the plane.  He has so many wonderful ideas.  I know I need to be more picky with my young students.  It’s the hardest thing in teaching—teaching a young beginner.  There are so many things to worry about all the time.  And tomorrow I am meeting a family with two very young students to see if they are ready to begin lessons…I often feel like I need to retake the Suzuki Volume 1 training (always an option for the summer).

I also read quite a bit of “War and Peace.”  I haven’t finished yet, but I am still engrossed.  I didn’t read much while in Phoenix, but now I am eager to get back into my reading.  My kindle says I am 78 % of the way through. 

I have a ton of “business” to catch up on.  I’m going to start with spending one dedicated hour tomorrow afternoon on paperwork and phone calls and see where that takes me.  I think I should be able to get a good start on it!  I also need to do some practicing, since I spent the last week violin-free.  Time to buckle down on the Brahms C Minor Quartet.  I also have some prep work before classes on Monday…but that seems so far away right now!  I have already cleaned up my email inbox though, AND unpacked my suitcase (unheard of!).

Well, now I’m going to “catch up” on some of my television watching…I missed a couple of my favorite programs while I was gone and I want to watch some of them before bed. 

Upcoming Weekend highlights:

Spinning Class on Sunday

Yoga for Runners workshop (after my successful Bikram class, I am eager to try more yoga!)

Hang out with Chris!

Hang out with friends?