I feel like I am 5 years old and it's Christmas Eve. I don't know if I can work. I know today is going to CRAWL by while I anticipate the arrival of my first visitor...
DEB DEMPSEY!
(Actually, Keisha was here on Tuesday but I was not the primary reason for the visit so she doesn't count.)
Finally, someone who knows me, a partner in crime, a shopping pal, a drinking buddy and most importantly a road trip co-captain. Deb arrives today and tonight we are going to paint the town red (maybe even maroon!) Tomorrow, we are departing for Boone, NC which is soon to be Deb's home base for at least two years. We plan to go hiking, tubing (Deb says its more like floating rather than my nightmare of being pulled behind a speed boat), and shopping. We are going to meet her new roommates for drinks and just hang out. I am SO looking forward to some quality "girl time."
If I can just make it through the next 7 hours...
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
OUCH!
So, I realize I need to change my friend quotient because officially I do have friends here. My roommates count as does an old friend from college with whom I recently reconnected. In fact, she e-mailed me a few days ago and invited me to join her in trying this new kind of yoga. It's called Bikram Yoga (aka: Hot Yoga). It is certainly not new to the world but it was new to us. So, I agreed to try it out with her.
OH MY GOD!!
Sweating is an understatement for what happened to me.
First, we arrive and get checked in. They encourage people to wear the bare minimum (shorts and tank, but no cotton since it chafes.) You must bring a water bottle, mat, towel (or two) and an open mind. We were encouraged to enter the HOT room (temp is around 95 but with the humidity, it makes the room feel about 145 degrees.) The class starts out with some breathing (yeah, whatever...who doesn't know how to breathe?) and then quickly moves into various standing poses. Throughout this time, the instructor is explaining and telling people to move this, put your hips there, etc. I have never heard my name called so many times in 90 minutes. After the standing poses, we do some floor work and end with some more breathing. In reading this, it doesn't sound so difficult...BULLSHIT! I thought I was going to pass out about 50 times, I had to sit for half the class and I was so sweaty!! I did feel better that others sat at various times also although I think if the class was designed to just sit on your mat in a hot, steamy room for 90 minutes then I would have won.
After class, I showered as I had plans to meet Keisha who was in visiting family from Chicago. When I walked out, the instructor gave the new people some information on what to expect to feel after your first class (lightheaded and STILL sweaty), a class schedule (I have to come back to this?) and a little packet of electrolytes to add to my water since I had eliminated them ALL form my body. He was very supportive and praised my attempts. He, of course, encouraged me to come back and briefly told me about his first time which made me feel a little better (even is he was just blowing smoke up my ass.)
So, the million dollar question....am I going back? The jury is still out. My stubborn side feels I should give it another shot but the dehydration headache I have today says, "HELL NO."
We'll see...
OH MY GOD!!
Sweating is an understatement for what happened to me.
First, we arrive and get checked in. They encourage people to wear the bare minimum (shorts and tank, but no cotton since it chafes.) You must bring a water bottle, mat, towel (or two) and an open mind. We were encouraged to enter the HOT room (temp is around 95 but with the humidity, it makes the room feel about 145 degrees.) The class starts out with some breathing (yeah, whatever...who doesn't know how to breathe?) and then quickly moves into various standing poses. Throughout this time, the instructor is explaining and telling people to move this, put your hips there, etc. I have never heard my name called so many times in 90 minutes. After the standing poses, we do some floor work and end with some more breathing. In reading this, it doesn't sound so difficult...BULLSHIT! I thought I was going to pass out about 50 times, I had to sit for half the class and I was so sweaty!! I did feel better that others sat at various times also although I think if the class was designed to just sit on your mat in a hot, steamy room for 90 minutes then I would have won.
After class, I showered as I had plans to meet Keisha who was in visiting family from Chicago. When I walked out, the instructor gave the new people some information on what to expect to feel after your first class (lightheaded and STILL sweaty), a class schedule (I have to come back to this?) and a little packet of electrolytes to add to my water since I had eliminated them ALL form my body. He was very supportive and praised my attempts. He, of course, encouraged me to come back and briefly told me about his first time which made me feel a little better (even is he was just blowing smoke up my ass.)
So, the million dollar question....am I going back? The jury is still out. My stubborn side feels I should give it another shot but the dehydration headache I have today says, "HELL NO."
We'll see...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Routine
So, when one moves to a new city, it takes awhile to establish any sort of routine. For me, it has been difficult to do so since I have had many weekends away (visiting parents, Chicago, weddings, etc.) but I have decided routine is nice when one's life feels chaotic. So, yesterday I began what I hope will become my routine:
6:00 Wake Up
7:00 Leave for work
8:00 Arrive at work
5:00 Leave work
5:30 Go to the gym
7:30 Home
To many this may seem, tiresome and monotonous but to me it is comfort. Obviously, I am flexible and when I make a new friend (I can dream, right?)I will adjust my schedule to fit but until then, this will carry my through.
So, I went to the gym for the first time yesterday. My old gym in Chicago will not let me out of my agreement (unless I die, they have me for another year) but says there is a gym here I can use. There is no way out of memberships unless you live more than 25 miles away from one of its affiliates. So, I got online to read the reviews and they are HORRIBLE! It am frightened to go there but to add a little adventure in my life, I am going to try it this weekend :)
So last night I hit the Duke gym. It is on campus and it is where most students and faculty work out. I was gruffly greeted by the desk person who swiped my ID card and pointed to the workout area. Needless to say, there were no maps of the building or class list so I was on my own. I quickly found the locker room, changed and was ready to sweat...except that I forgot my ipod and magazine. I didn't let that get me down and quickly found a treadmill and off I went. This was not just any treadmill, it had a fan attached to it! I had never seen this before. It was GREAT! I am not one of those daintly people who glistens when they exercise. I SWEAT, my face turns red and those around me cower away, afraid of being chosen to perform mouth to mouth or call 911. I made it through my first workout there and am going to try again today...yea me!
6:00 Wake Up
7:00 Leave for work
8:00 Arrive at work
5:00 Leave work
5:30 Go to the gym
7:30 Home
To many this may seem, tiresome and monotonous but to me it is comfort. Obviously, I am flexible and when I make a new friend (I can dream, right?)I will adjust my schedule to fit but until then, this will carry my through.
So, I went to the gym for the first time yesterday. My old gym in Chicago will not let me out of my agreement (unless I die, they have me for another year) but says there is a gym here I can use. There is no way out of memberships unless you live more than 25 miles away from one of its affiliates. So, I got online to read the reviews and they are HORRIBLE! It am frightened to go there but to add a little adventure in my life, I am going to try it this weekend :)
So last night I hit the Duke gym. It is on campus and it is where most students and faculty work out. I was gruffly greeted by the desk person who swiped my ID card and pointed to the workout area. Needless to say, there were no maps of the building or class list so I was on my own. I quickly found the locker room, changed and was ready to sweat...except that I forgot my ipod and magazine. I didn't let that get me down and quickly found a treadmill and off I went. This was not just any treadmill, it had a fan attached to it! I had never seen this before. It was GREAT! I am not one of those daintly people who glistens when they exercise. I SWEAT, my face turns red and those around me cower away, afraid of being chosen to perform mouth to mouth or call 911. I made it through my first workout there and am going to try again today...yea me!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
So it begins....
So, I finally joined the rest of the world and started a blog. There are a few reasons why I am doing this:
1) I have moved to a new city and state so EVERYTHING is an adventure
2) I have no friends and this way I feel like I am connected to something
3) I am in the process of investing in my first home and I figure if TLC can document other peoples first home adventures, I can document mine (until they call me to be on the show.)
So, let me bring you up to speed:
One of the reasons I moved to NC is to be closer to my parents. By no means are they aged or in need of care but rather, I generally like to be around them as people so the idea of seeing them more than twice a year is appealing. They live in that other Carolina state and they are only 3.5 hours away. I actually spent this Father's Day Weekend with them.
I arrived the their house late on Friday and brought them up to speed on the craziness of my job (I will save details for a later post.) On Saturday, my dad and I drove my car to be fixed (minor AC issues) and then my mom and I went for lunch and a minor shopping spree. Saturday evening was spent dining at SNOB Charleston. SNOB stands for Slightly North of Broad and was named Restaurant of the Year by the local paper. It definitely lived up to its reputation. I had the best piece of salmon ever as well as homemade peach cobbler for dessert. Needless to say the dinner was great and we went home very satisfied. Today, I arrived home to an empty house for some quality tv watching.
Just a typical weekend in my new life in NC.
1) I have moved to a new city and state so EVERYTHING is an adventure
2) I have no friends and this way I feel like I am connected to something
3) I am in the process of investing in my first home and I figure if TLC can document other peoples first home adventures, I can document mine (until they call me to be on the show.)
So, let me bring you up to speed:
- I moved from Chicago to North Carolina on May 6th of 2008
- I am residing with an old high school friend and his roomate in their new 3 bedroom townhouse
- I work at Duke and have a 70 mile(roundtrip) commute everyday
- I have no friends*
One of the reasons I moved to NC is to be closer to my parents. By no means are they aged or in need of care but rather, I generally like to be around them as people so the idea of seeing them more than twice a year is appealing. They live in that other Carolina state and they are only 3.5 hours away. I actually spent this Father's Day Weekend with them.
I arrived the their house late on Friday and brought them up to speed on the craziness of my job (I will save details for a later post.) On Saturday, my dad and I drove my car to be fixed (minor AC issues) and then my mom and I went for lunch and a minor shopping spree. Saturday evening was spent dining at SNOB Charleston. SNOB stands for Slightly North of Broad and was named Restaurant of the Year by the local paper. It definitely lived up to its reputation. I had the best piece of salmon ever as well as homemade peach cobbler for dessert. Needless to say the dinner was great and we went home very satisfied. Today, I arrived home to an empty house for some quality tv watching.
Just a typical weekend in my new life in NC.
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