Nothing in particular

I'm just back from a couple of days in Nashville, Tennessee for business. I'd never been before, but I can tell you I will definitely go back.

Usually when I am away for a couple of days and my security blanket of a routine gets disrupted, I come back all jumbled up inside. My heart races like I've had too much caffeine and neither my brain nor my body can sit still long enough to sort it out.

The remedy? Writing it down. So, in no particular order, I'll make room in my brain by taking up space in this blog. Here's the nothing-in-particular:

• I broke down at the airport and bought the splurge I so proudly resisted last week. But I'm glad I did. I am still thinking a lot about this story and I hope that when it comes together for me, I can share with you what it did for me.

• I read the newspaper cover to cover in the lounge of my hotel yesterday morning--and inside of it was an article about this software that Dominoes Pizza has developed for people to track the status of their pizza. Online. Huh? Talk about creating a solution to a problem that doesn't exist! (Which I, by the way, am expert at doing).

• I read the paper in the lounge of the hotel because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get anywhere else. The hotel was something like 58 acres with tunnels and overpasses for travel. I tried to find a map of the place for you, but they probably don't make it available until they've already got you inside.
  

• I did manage to find the health club (though it took me about 20 minutes) and bored myself to tears on the treadmill watching the perfectly still pool that was directly down below.

• I disrupted the perfectly still pool and swam about 10 laps (though I think it was eight, how on earth do you keep track of laps? I nearly broke my hand (again) trying to figure it out because apparently I can't think and swim straight at the same time). Swimming is a HARD thing to do.

• Then, I made my way outside in the 30 degree air and soaked myself in the hot tub. It was still dark but that moon sure was bright. It occurred to me that I had NEVER sat in an outdoor hot tub before. There's nothing like realizing you're doing something new and different while you're doing it.
  

• I bought Ava the most adorable pair of cowgirl boots. Earl (I'm not kidding, that was his name) at Boot Country on Broadway sold me a pair that are three sizes too big--but I couldn't resist. So she puts them on and just stands there. It's hysterical.

• I learned something about leadership on the plane ride there:

It was a turbulent ride and they announced that it would be turbulent as soon as we boarded. Well, three minutes after we took off, I had to pee. (By the way, how do you not have to pee and then all of a sudden have to pee with "holding it" absolutely NOT an option?) So, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for that stupid overhead sign to go off. After 25 minutes and "I can't switch to one more position without completely embarrassing myself and mortifying the guy next to me", I unbuckled my belt and walked to the front of the plane. I told the attendants (still buckled at their "station") that I couldn't wait. They told me to "just be careful."

I decided in the lavatory that I would walk back to my seat with confidence. (As opposed to walking back as someone who had just announced to the entire plane that she had to pee so badly she was willing to risk her life by getting up on a turbulent plane while everyone else waited dutifully for the sign to go off.) No, I wouldn't show the least bit of embarrassment. I would walk tall, look straight ahead, maybe even smiling at people as I passed, like I was the most natural person in the world doing the most natural thing in the world. Like I had just accepted a fashion award or something.

As soon as I made it back to my seat, five people (maybe six) got up from their seats to pee too. I feel like I made a difference for those five (maybe six) people that day. That kind of experience probably won't make it into a Jack Welch book on leadership or the follow up to Jim Collins' "Good to Great"--but I think there was an element of leadership (okay, and desperation) in my decision to break the rules and pee that day.

• I felt light-hearted and light-weighted. I attribute it to NO COMPUTER. Seriously, it felt really good to disappear from cyberspace for a while. You should definitely have a day or two of detoxification...even if it means avoiding "Splashes and Splurges" for a while. Use the time to write a letter to an old friend, read a book, or get out for a walk. Really.

Well, that's enough for now. I need to move on to some other things before Ava wakes from her nap, in this particular order:

1. Clean up lunch dishes
2. Wipe the counters
3. Put clothes away
4. Finish editing a report
5. Send out some work emails
6. Draft an outline of a paper
7. Write two pages in my book
8. Send my journal sketch to Bird Dog Press

Okay, I just read the list. I'm not so straightened out that I can pull all of that off in an hour...wanna take bets on how much I can pull off?

Popcorn Splurge:

Tonight is the season premier of Lost. So, it's TV and this buttery salt and pepper popcorn.

sticks and stones

Something about my recent sneaker experience triggered the recollection of a recent Runner's World article. I combed through my last three issues in search of it...and found it (electronically too).

While I am not convinced that my sneaker syndrome could be remedied by a lacing technique (too short is too short), I do think that this article provides what should be an obvious solution (or at least attempt) for foot discomfort...but if you're like me, it hadn't ever "crossed" your mind!

Today's splurge:

I have really tight muscles, particularly my quadriceps. I've been looking at "The Stick: A Toothbrush for Muscles" for sometime...and bought it today using a $10 gift card I received for joining the new sneaker store. I can't wait to go sit on the couch and use it!

A perfect pair

I just love this picture and I'm not even sure what to say about it, so I'll just say nothing and let you enjoy it too.

So not a splurge:

I spent an hour (and tortured my husband and daughter by making them spend it too) in a just-opened sneaker store Friday night. In search of the perfect pair of running shoes (because I'm so convinced that they remain elusive despite the never-had-a-problem with these before).

So, I underwent all kinds of assessments (interview, walk analysis, and even a barefoot run on the treadmill) and what they came up with (same brand I used, different style) they didn't have in my size (of course). So they brought out a men's shoe in the equivalent size. Tired and out of time, I took it.

So anxious was I to try out the new perfect pair of shoes, I geared up for a long treadmill run the next morning...only a couple miles in to realize that my perfect pair were so... unperfect. Too short and way too wide, I had a pain in my right foot, calf, knee and hip the whole day long.

Fortunately they have a 60-day perfect fit guarantee, which means I can return them no questions asked. The only question for me is, do I even try a size up--or do I just give it up. And stick with what I know works while the "possibly-perfect pair" continue to elude me.

Measuring Progress

There are all sorts of ways to measure progress. In fact, figuring out the best way is one of the basic ways I help people, organizations, and businesses in my professional life.

But in my personal life, this is how we're measuring progress these days:

1. How much further we have to grow before we can reach the counter top

2. How big our wrist has grown today compared to yesterday

3. The height of a cabinet...

and lastly, some flexibility progress for you:

Today at the gym, before my yoga class I had to use the restroom. One of the first things I do upon entering the restroom is to check the toilet paper situation:

a. to make sure there is some

b. to make sure that it isn't a new roll (because there are few things more frustrating--and inconvenient-- than trying to find the start of the first square of cheap toilet paper)

Before I started taking yoga, I had to bend my knees to look up into the holder. BUT TODAY I could actually bend from my hips (without bending my knees) to look up into the holder!

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I came across this little strategy if you're interested in some "progress psychology"

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Thursday's Splurge-day:

A piece of lemon pound cake that wasn't nearly as good as good friend Melissa's, but it was good.

Food, Food, Goose!

(Reading the title, can you tell what I've been playing a lot of lately?)

I'm going to indulge in things food tonight.

First, an article in my recent Runner's World magazine gives some short and "sweet" tips for eating good-for-you dark chocolate.

Second, I've been making all kinds of things with wonder food quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). I especially like this recipe--but adding a little more gruyere cheese than is specified AND making sure you don't overcook the rice on the stovetop (err on the side of watery than done) are two well-worth-it lessons learned. Oh, and be sure to salt and pepper to taste.

Want more? Read on.

Finally, I had a trivia inquiry from a reader recently, wondering if anyone had any idea on what the shell of a cashew looked like... made me think that I'd never seen one. So, if you have any ideas, please send along!

Splurge-mint:

I bought a package of Peppermint Patties and put them in the freezer. Once I finish up here, I'm going to have a cup of tea with a side of pattie....

Faces

Ava likes to imitate faces and she calls this one her "Cesar face" (as in Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer)

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And we took this picture all bundled up on Sunday morning.




Splurge-resist:

I spent a lot of time at the bookstore this weekend getting some work done. I was surrounded by books glossy and matte, bound and spiraled. I picked them up and put them done, some three times or more.

But I walked out of that bookstore empty-handed.

I resisted the urge to splurge.

mystery solved

I can check off January's "do something new and different twice a month", thanks to my “new and different” this morning...

When I was a kid, the women’s health club (which was really just a fancy locker room with a tanning bed, a sauna, a telephone and a tv, private showers, and bathroom doors that actually locked) at the YMCA was a great big mystery—from how to get there to what was in there.

The back stairwells, seemingly secret-passage racketball courts, and hidden-in-the-wall weight rooms that surrounded and protected this secret locker room made it all the more, well, secret.

If you read Harry Potter, this locker room was like Platform 9 ¾ on the Hogwarts Express: with a little luck and a lot of magic, it would appear out of nowhere to a fortunate few.

On Sunday afternoons, a little girl could legally get into the locker room provided these two requirements were met:

1. Her mom paid the extra dues to be a member of the women’s health club; and
2. Her mom felt she behaved well enough during the week to warrant a family-day swim followed by a sauna and a shower in the WOMEN’S HEALTH CLUB….

My mom met requirement number one; I tried hard to meet requirement number two because WHAT A TREAT IT WAS.

And this morning, probably 15, maybe even 20 (yikes!) years since my last sauna sit, I did it again.

Oh my gosh. Go find yourself one. NOW.

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Ava directed me, under no uncertain terms, of the following, “Mommy, big girl diapers, get ‘em, wear ‘em”

Now that I’m writing it, I think she meant her. I hope she meant her.

Weekend SPLURGE:

TWO glasses of wine and duck fat frites (translation: fries fried in duck fat) on a DATE with Pete!