Oh, how I wish I had some exotic locale to say that I’d decided to make my new home, but sadly, nope. I’ve just been busy. I mean, really busy, and yet, if you were to ask me what I’ve been doing, I’d be grasping as straws to tell you. Let me see if I can cull together some highlights of what’s been going down.
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Tennis — so you remember how I told you that I had been hitting the courts at least twice a week? Things have been going really well. My lessons and my hard work are paying off. I can actually see improvement! I’m breaking my bad habits while the new ones are taking hold. I’m not saying I’m ready for the USTA and any tours, but I’m feeling more confident about the regular doubles matches that I play. I’ve been regularly subbing in this round robin comprised of 8 senior citizen ladies. Seriously, I’m playing doubles with the Golden Girls.
The woman closest to me in age is 53 and the oldest is 78. No joke. The first time I played with them, one of the ladies kind of burnt out in the warm up. My partner, who is 68 says, “Damnit, Patsy! I came here to play, not to watch you huff and puff on the sidelines. I told you to stay on your oxygen.”
The woman with the oxygen was quick to tell me that she’d had a mini stroke during one match, but kept on playing. Yo! Don’t sleep on these old broads. They’re playing through strokes, they had me running like windshield wipers all over the court for these drop shots, and they talk more trash than the Waste Management Authority.
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P90X – What can I say? 30 days are behind me and I’m down 4 pounds and 3 inches from my waist. Clearly, something is working. You know, Tony Horton gives a little confessional at the beginning of each workout, going on and on about what this particular work out is going to do for you and how if you want to see results, you better “bring it”. The ab routine, called Ab Ripper X , has this confessional, too. He’s all, “Oh you do 349 moves. And you’ll have ripped abs, yadda, yadda, yadda.” Then he looks into the camera and says, “Ab Ripper X! I hate it. . . .but I love it. “
I’m on week 6 and as far as me and Ab Ripper X go? I hate it. . . .no, I just hate it.
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Glee — My new favorite show! I can’t remember how I got hooked on this one, but the next thing I know, Netflix couldn’t send them fast enough. When that got maxed out, Hulu and I became besties. I was walking around the house, laptop in hand so I could watch episodes. I watch the show even while the DVR is recording it. I know, it’s ridiculous. Probably because I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, I’m living vicariously through this show. Seriously, I lip sync “Happy Birthday”. Anyway, I’m a “Gleek“, I’ll admit it. First of all, I want Emma Pillsbury’s wardobe. I even found this blog about what she wears and how you can find similar knockoffs. Click here and thank me later. If I could sing, I can’t decide if I want Rachel’s voice or Kurt’s. And if Mr. Shue does one more Color Me Badd/Vanilla Ice/Tone Loc cover I am going to die of embarassment for him.
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Reading — I have been looking for a good book for a while now, and I finally got my hands on something halfway decent. Of course, I burned right through it, but that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’ve got a good read. I was reading two books at once, “Self Made Man” by Norah Vincent and “The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox” by Maggie O’Farrell, but I realized I could really enjoy the latter until I finished the former. It was like eating my veggies in order to get to dessert. I mean, I like vegetables, but we all know dessert and I have a very special relationship. Very special, hence my new relationship with Tony Horton. When it comes to those 4:45a work outs, I feel like Antoine and Blaine:
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Hanging out with BBC — My brother has been in town twice in the past two weeks, which has been really nice. He’s come over for dinner and some quality time with the girls. They’ve tried to con him into reading entire shelves of books, they manage to get from their chair into his lap throughout the course of a meal, and effectively relieve him of his iPhone to play Flickr Fish until someone (Morgan) cries that someone else isn’t sharing (Coever). Last night, we went out to dinner with a girlfriend of mine and cut up like we had nothing to do tomorrow.
Pretending to be Annie Liebovtiz — DH and I have been talking about getting a new camera. I think I’m ready for an SLR, even though it doesn’t have the sleekness of the compact models, and even though it means I’ll be schlepping more stuff around with me. I’m just ready to take better pictures. With that, of course, means learning about all the tips and tricks that go with SLR photography. I got some books from the library, but I’m wondering if they’ve got a Rosetta Stone for Digital Photography because the vocab alone is enough to make me break out some flash cards to keep it straight. Sure, I’d be tempted to just learn as I go, but an SLR, especially the Nikon D90 (*drool*) is was too pricey to waste time trying to figure it out.
My friend, Lacey, was kind enough to let me test drive her Canon PowerShotXT. SO nice. I had no clue what I was doing when I would increase or decrease the ISO (I’m still not entirely clear on what ISO is anyway), nor did I really see a difference between AV Mode and M, but I did get some nice pictures of the girls.
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The Usual — I’ve been running errands, chauffeuring girls to school and playdates. I’ve hauled out the sprinkler, grilled burgers, had drinks with a neighbor (thanks, Kim), gone to the library, Target, Trader Joe’s and back again.
We took the girls to Jamestown, we went to see my parents, we went out for sushi with my brother and Morgan proceeded to eat her California rolls, Coever’s California rolls, my dragon roll and my mom’s Umi. Then she asked for dessert (definitely my child).
I’ve gone to a baby shower, I’ve been to birthday parties, I’ve hung out with my girlfriends more than I have in months and I’m loving it.
I’ve been told I’m “too smokin’ hot” to wear flats all of the time, so I’m working heels into my wardrobe rotation. Point of Clarification: You know you need to make some changes when you throw a pair of heels on with some jeans and folks start asking you why you’re all dressed up!
Sadly, I did something to my knee last week, so I’ve been “keeping off of it” but really, that just means, I’ve scaled down from 20mph to about 18mph.
I’ve been working on this post for two days! More like eight if you count the six days it took me to organize this in my head. I haven’t spell checked it either.
I’m just too busy.