What do you do when your tupperware is missing!?!? (not a laughing matter)

not totally related... but hilarious!

Okay, so... I got rid of the Worst Roommate of All Time (if she ever stumbles upon my occasional mentioning of her then I hope she will take what I say into consideration, for her own future well being.)  She has now been replaced by a shiny new roommate, who has a very positive reputation among my friends so I felt confident that she was a good choice. Even if not, I assume I could only go up from where I had been.  So far, she has proven to be all that I hoped, which is low maintenance, friendly, tidy. Yippee!!!!!  The relief is wonderful!!!

{Note to my Roomies - if you are reading this (doubtful) you may want to stop here if you tend to be sensitive. Honesty is a thing to be valued, my friends}

Somehow, within a week and a half of my new roomie moving in, three of my newly purchased and adored Pyrex tupperware dishes, as well as a newly purchased IKEA cutting board, VANISHED.  At least that is what they want me to believe, they being the person that took them!!! (I just envisioned myself snarling, screaming and pulling my hair while saying that, maybe tearing my clothes, like Biblical times.)

I have scoured the kitchen and repeatedly asked both my roommates if they have any clue as to the items whereabouts, to the point of nearly cornering and interrogating them.  Both have claimed ignorance, to which I have responded something like, “I’m just baffled! I mean, I’ve looked everywhere! I haven’t even used them lately - and I mean where - where on earth could a cutting board go!?!?” (lots of broad hand motions.) To which they quickly agree, “that’s so weird...” while slowly backing their way out of the kitchen leaving me silently pleading: wtf!?

Now, I do not believe that either of these gals are prone to lie.  I know that one of them (Roomie 1) might forget that she had, perhaps, transported them to her boyfriends house to make him dinner or something, but not lie. The other gal (Roomie 2) I haven’t known long enough to say for sure, but as I said, she has great references.

So where does that leave me???

situation a) Roomie 1 completely forgot that she left the items elsewhere

situation b) Roomie 2 is actually a liar yet to be exposed

situation c) Roomie 2 broke them, lost them or did something with them she feels she can’t admit to

situation d) I misplaced them, even though I feel I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I was not using those items near the time of their disappearance

situation e) The Worst Roommate of All Time came back into the house and took them, thus further confirming her status as The Worst Roommate of All Time.

I’m thinking E.  I know you’re thinking I’m crazy, but Worst Roommate of All Time claimed that she “lost” her key - curiously, right after she had come back to the house to pick up her last load of items.  I was skeptical from the moment I heard it. Well, crazy or not, for the sake of my sanity I had the locks changed within 24 hours of the thought entering my mind. 

Now that I can check that off my list I am still short 3 Pyrex dishes and 1, hardly used, cutting board.  The reason I’m still flaring my nostrils about it is because I know that it is actually very unlikely that Worst Roommate of All Time would actually come here to take those random items (too lazy.) So the question still remains: Who Dunnit!!!!!   Aaaaggghhhh!!! Will I ever sleep again??? 

But seriously - I really just hope it was me, and I really hope I find out - soon!!! 

Advice is welcome - to all of you virtual air molecules out there, buffering and releasing  my rants. (It's been pointed out to me that the previous sentence doesn't make sense. I'm okay with it.)

Lets Reconnect...

Hi there.  Uh, this just in, my new alarm clock has failed to go off for the past two mornings and just now I set a tester time and it went off. So... what the heck?

A lot has been going on in my little world. A lot that I can't, and probably shouldn't, share right now, because I'm pretty sure most of you would categorize my sharing as "complaining."  But things have definitely been tricky. I am learning.  It's the acting out what I am learning that is so hard.  Learning to speak my mind, instead of letting my blood boil and veins pop like Spencer Pratt, is a big one.  Instead I just cry to my cat, "I'm not cut out for roommates! I'm just not!" ...or relationships or work or...
I've been so consumed by personal dramas (which I am not used to) that I have completely forgotten where I was going with anything else in my life!  Even my blog!  I've found myself desiring to retreat and hideaway from everyone so I don't have to deal!  But I know that's not what's right.

So, here I am, re-entering into the things that were/are important to me.  I've had a few things that I wanted to document and share with you but several of my belongings have mysteriously gone missing, one of which being my camera.

****

I will proudly declare that I have achieved something I never thought I would.  I now run aprox. 6 miles on a regular basis!  All at once! No stopping!  AND uphill!!! Well - half uphill, of course.  I am so proud of myself!!  But even accepting the new title of "athlete," I still fall victim to pity parties.  I was inconsolable a few nights ago.  I felt like all my efforts weren't doing anything and the years of my prime were being squandered by my muffin top.  I pouted shamelessly to my boyfriend while eating in bed, using the scale I'd bought that day as a tray.  It was a low moment.  But we all have those, right?

Well, I'll end my ramblings for the night with this:  My boyfriend and I went to Tahoe over the 4th of July.  It is so incredibly beautiful up there!  We went on an amazing hike up to 8,000 feet. Even though the temperature was in the 70's we were hiking in snow! It was so cool!  We stopped at a gorgeous lake w/ miniature icebergs floating in it and had lunch while taking it all in.  I was able to borrow a camera and get some pics!  It was breathtaking!

It is called the Wild Flower Hike. Normally the hillsides are covered in wild flowers, but they had a late snow this year, so there were just a few buds.

Amazing!!

Critter company

Oh yeah, there was a crazy guy that swam out to one of the chunks of ice. Freezing!!!

Stuck?

Yikes!!!

Yet, the guy managed to inspire a follower...  I love the expression on his face! The water was soooooo cold!

Rx: Eat Chocolate As Needed...

As I write this, I am burrowed in my huge down comforter on my bed. My hair is pinned back the way I used to wear it in Junior High. Beside me is a one-pound box of See’s Candy - given to me, that is the only redeeming aspect of it. It has been a rough several days. I have had the house to myself this past week, which turned out to be unfortunate timing. My boyfriend and I decided to take a break, for various reasons, hopefully amounting to the strengthening of our relationship. We have not spoken or seen each other for what feels like an eternity. As our time apart grows I feel like the island I am on is slowly floating further from his shore and I am becoming accustomed to being alone. I wish a roommate would come home so I could hear their shoes taping around the house!  My dad offered his support, all though not in the way I'd hoped, suggesting I date around because he feels getting married before thirty is a good way to ruin your life. In addition, there are the usual culprits: work has been chaotically busy, all my pants have mysteriously shrunk, my neck pain is taking on a life of its own and today I sent freshly brewed coffee cascading across my desk full of papers.

So, what does one do in a time like this? I bought a hair brush - the first one I have ever purchased. I have always argued that hair brushes are unnecessary, conditioner does the job. Maybe my hair has gone through a change recently, because after leaving work late, nothing sounded better than combing out that baby dreadlock on the back of my neck that’s been showing up towards the end of each day. Sitting in my car, I brushed my hair with my new brush. It felt so comforting, like I was nursing my tired self. It reminded me of when my mom used to brush my hair when I was little and pull it back into a neat ponytail with a frilly hair tie. I brushed for awhile, slowly, feeling the pin points of the brush rush over my scalp, working through the knots, making my hair calm and soft. I finally understand why those girls in school would have their hair brush in hand at the start of each period and run it through their hair like a nervous tick. If I’m not careful, this could become a dependency. I think I’ll give my hair just a few more quick strokes… again. Can you brush too much? Should I be concerned?
For tonight, along with the See’s candy, I will put away my daily nagging stresses (beat them off with my hair brush actually) and let go of my uncertainties. I know they’ll be right where I left them tomorrow. I’ll have my hair brush ready.

Proud Runner...

A few months ago I posted running a marathon as an item on my list of achievable goals. I’d like to inform you of adjustments/progresses in regards to that goal since the time of its posting. To be completely honest, when I first penned the goal I was unaware of exactly how many miles a marathon was. I had, for the most part, never ran (except for in grade school when you have to run the dreaded annual mile.) I’m not sure what I expected, but upon hearing it was the some-kinda-insanity 26 miles I quickly downgraded the goal to a half marathon. It didn’t take more than moment more for me to acknowledge that, yes indeed, that means a half marathon is 13 miles. Barf. Due to my ignorance, I decided to train for the next half marathon. It was a late Saturday morning, I had a steady, 90 year-old-ish hobble going down my street. A mere 3 blocks later I was whimpering from a fresh bee sting on my ankle and, having stopped to nurse my wound, suddenly found that I felt extremely nauseous. I had a moment of panic. I felt like my stomach was going to empty itself in both directions and I was going to die of thirst at the same time. I frantically scanned my surroundings for a drinking fountain, none. Though I was within five minutes of my house I folded onto a patch of grass in front of a huge Graham Cheverolet sign on the corner of an intersection, sucking in deep slow breaths. As the damp grass soaked into the seat of my pants two other joggers moved gingerly up the sidewalk. I tried to hide the distressed expression on my face and fidgeted with my shoe laces as they swiftly passed me. It was then that I realized that I didn't have a clue and 13 miles is a lot. So again, I downsized my half marathon to a marathon relay with three other people. I requested the shortest leg, 4.7 miles. Amazingly enough, since that dreadful morning, I have managed to run four miles with some regularity. In part because four miles is the exact distance from my house to my boyfriends and back. That way I can burst through his door and demand to know his plans for the night while having a little water break and showing him that I‘m athletic. I know what some of you are saying, “Pah! Four miles? I did that when I was five! I run 15 miles a day!” And to you I say, you are crazy and need to get some other hobbies. But truly, I don’t need that. I am so proud of myself for actually saving my brownie till later, shutting off the reality TV show, putting on the insanely tight sports bra and stretchy pants, all to go sweat like a pig and run like a sissy with my mouth gaping open for four triumphant miles as my neighbors drive by and wave.

Having said that, I must tell you that the marathon relay I was planning to run in is this Sunday. Have I trained? Yes. Have I resolved to getting up at the ass-crack of dawn in thirty degree weather? Yes. Unfortunately, my teammates are not in the same boat. Maybe it’s because they’re all married and so aren't in need of an excuse for a surprise visit to their boyfriends house. I don’t know, but the race for team Runners Up is officially off. You may think I feel pretty disappointed. But I don’t. As I said, it is a miracle in itself that my running shoes even see daylight. Cheesey may it be, but I feel like a winner. Plus, now I can enjoy the open bar at my company Christmas party this Saturday night.

Runners Up has decided to try the run again in May when it’s not so cold at 6am. My leg has been upped to about 7 miles. Yes!

A Quote to Hopefully Propel Me...

"I want hard stories, I demand them for myself. Hard stories are worth the difficulty. It seems to me the only way I have forgiven anything, understood anything, is through that process of opening up to my own terror and pain and reexamining it, re-creating it in the story, and making it something different, making it meaningful - even if the meaning is only in the act of the telling."
-Dorothy Allision

I have yet to learn to do this, but it's something I look forward to.

I know I owe my three readers an update on my goals and so forth; stay tuned...