Hmmmm

Well, THAT kind of Monday turned into THAT kind of week. The week wasn't without high points, but having to meet a deadline at work made things slightly stressful yesterday and today. Add in the fact that it's concert week...and I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow!

High points of the week:

1. Tuesday night I went to the Kennedy Center to hear a dress rehearsal of Lucrezia Borgia with Renee Fleming. And, oh my goodness, was she wonderful! I know all of the "haters" out there (I can't believe I just used that word...) think she's overrated, but wow. Such a beautiful voice...rich tone, supported, steady high notes, amazing control...yeah. I walked out feeling kinda floaty.

2. Wednesday I had a Drs appt, so I "scheduled" a sick day. Meaning, since I had a Drs. appt my boss approved me taking the whole day. It also kind of doubled as a mental health day. I took a nap, laid on the couch, ate McDonald's, read a trashy magazine, and took a bath at 3:00 in the afternoon just because I was cold. I wish I could be "sick" every day...

And now, I'm looking forward to a fun weekend filled with concerts, a Navy game, and hanging out.

Tomorrow, National Blog Posting Month begins, so I'm really going to do my best to post something every day. Wish me luck!

Crazy Monday

After a good weekend...I had one of THOSE Monday mornings...where little spiders crawl under your desk, pumpkins won't sit up straight, and computers and phones have little demons controlling them. However, here are three things that are preventing me from getting too down:

1. Mint.com...a new way for me to obsess about my finances
2. Winter veggie soup...yum!
3. Hoops and Yoyo- A perennial mood-lifter!

Until tomorrow...

End of the Week Musings

I've realized a few things this week:

1. No matter how much easier it is to go into a Friday with no trainings scheduled, having no trainings during the day makes it drrraaaaggggg...

2. After tracking all of my calories in FitDay.com this week, I apparently eat more than I thought I do. No wonder my weight tends to always stay the same, even when I'm an exercising fiend.

3. I cram my weekends way too full of stuff...some of it self-imposed (like chores and organizing), some of it imposed by others (emergency rehearsals), and some of it that is too fun to pass up (dinners with friends, fun shows, and dates). Maybe next weekend I'll finally have some time to lay around and do nothing...oh wait. Next weekend is a concert weekend...

4. I'm terrible at fixing mechanical things. Whether it's my computer moving slowly or my sunroof not closing (oh the sunroof drama I've had this week...thankfully, I found non-residue duct tape) I seem to have a knack for being frustrated by things I can't fix.

5. Fall-scented candles are relaxing mood-lifters for me.

6. I've become a bit obsessed with having an organized closet. It's a little sick actually. Everything is perfectly lined up and soon all the hangers will match.

7. I need to exercise more. I feel so great afterwards...it's just the getting myself into gear that's hard.

8. This makes me laugh. Maybe one of my crafty readers can crochet (or knit) me a Sexy Turkey Hat? Who would've thought that a Turkey Hat could be sexy? :)

So, while it's not been a particularly enlightening week, I did realize a few things...

The Thursday Commute

Laura was on vacation last week, so I was driving to work on my own. I think the fact that I didn't notice anything strange truly proves the fact that I am not as observant when I'm driving by myself. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing...

So after last week's carpooling hiatus, the Thursday Commute is back this week with one odd thing we noticed on the road. Window Decals with pictures and writing. I supposed I've noticed them before, but this time the irony of the order of the cars we saw with them sparked a funny conversation. First, a minvan drove by with a decal that was essentially the outline of a naked woman. And you could see everything. It said something about women in spanish over the woman. I'm guessing it must have been "sexy women"...but perhaps not in such mild terms! The next car that passed us had a decal with praying hands on it. I started commenting on window decals; particularly about how I don't understand the "In Memory of..." ones that people put on the back of their cars. And lo and behold, the next car that comes has a decal on the back that reads, "In Loving Memory of ..... 1980-2008". It's especially odd when the car is an old beat up Mercury. You have your beat up car in memory of that person? Is that what you think of them? I mean, I understand a gravestone, or maybe a picture or a plaque...but your car? Clearly, I just don't get it...

What I've been up to since last Friday...

You know, you'd think when fun stuff is going on in my life I'd be able to blog about it. But for some reason, for me, fun=busy...and blogging falls by the wayside. So anyway, here's a quick run-down of what I've been doing:

-Hanging out in Irish Pubs. Or one Irish pub really...just 2 nights in a row...Friday for Happy Hour, and Saturday after the...

-Navy Football game. The Mids lost miserably, and it was freezing. Here is evidence:

Unfortunately, I missed the hooded sweatshirt memo...

-Purging clothes and re-organizing my closet. This took most of Sunday afternoon...but my closet is now much freer and I can actually find clothes I need.

-A Chris Botti concert at Ramshead last night. It was fabulous...he and his band always put on a great show...entertaining jazz, funny commentary, and fabulous musicianship. We had great seats for seeing the stage and were close to the soundboard, so what we heard was really nice. If you haven't heard him live, you should...(and ladies, he's pretty darn easy on the eyes, as well!).

-The normal stuff...rehearsing, running, drinking coffee, drinking wine, etc.

Tomorrow, I actually have some interesting material for The Thursday Commute...

Full Blogroll (Updated Summer 2011)

Well, I've been playing around with a way to easily display the blogs I read on a daily basis along with a little blurb about what they are and why I read them. For awhile there has been a link on the sidebar to my Bloglines account with a list of all of the blogs I read...but no place to add a description. So, I'm going to create a link on the sidebar back to this post, and I'll update it periodically as I start reading new blogs. If you want to be added, let me know!

Theology/Spiritual Blogs
Amy's Humble Musings- The adventures of a Mom of 6 living on a farm and attempting to raise Godly children
Bethany- Friend of a friend of a friend who recently moved to NYC to fulfill her life dream of living in the City
Tim Challies- Blogger, book reviewer and "theologian" extraordinaire
Josh Harris- Pastor and author of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye"...he's now married.
Radical Womanhood- Blogger and Author Carolyn McCulley
She Worships- Edgy and creative thoughts on culture and theology by a former female college minister

Environmental Blogs


Walk Slowly, Live Wildly- Sara is a lovely, green Jesus loving wife and mom

Friends
The Hickmans- Former discipler Steph, her husband Pat, and their super-photogenic kids
The Brooks Blog- Jennifer and Charlie...more college CO friends
Carson Family of Three (by invite only)- CO friends Tracy, Keith, and son Owen...many great photos!
Clement Crew- Former BEP Church friends and their baby (still friends...just former BEPers)
Ewing Family- CO friend Beth
Hidden Glory- CO friend and fellow Mexico Team member Heather
In the World of the Webers- Friend of a Friend Amanda...with 3 hilarious little girls
Josh and Natalie's World- CO acquaintance
Make Something Beautiful (by invite only) - Dear college friend and roommate Rachel...updates and pictures on her 2 precious kids
My life as a Novel- Blogger Rita...I actually followed her over from Xanga
Ginger and Chris- Friend from church in Sparkle City...New Tribes Mission Missionaries in Brazil and new parents
Penny for Your Thoughts- CO friends from college
PJ's Ramblings- Fellow Chorus Girl writes about singing, teaching, and life
Ramblings on Anything- CO friend Jill blogs about her job, her hubby, and life in general
Right Now with the Rocks- Dear college and beyond friend Holly updates us on her life as a new mom...with photos!
The Sanders- CO friend Sara tells us about her life with her family in Texas
Seven Answered Prayers- CO friend Stephanie updates about her life and her son
Shmomo- My roommate occaisonally blogs about her travels
Stacy Richardson Photography Blog- Pastor's Wife and fantastic Wedding Photographer
Thatsathought- CO friend Carrie...wife, mom, artist...a mix of life with her kids and thoughts on Jesus
Thimbly Things -Dear friend Kristena blogs about crafty goodness and her family in Oklahoma
Tracy Revels- My favorite Wofford History Professor blogs about Wofford, teaching, and History


Music Blogs
A Soprano Steps Out- Very funny soprano Jessica blogs about singing and life in general.
Coloratur...aaah- Young coloratura soprano blogs about the singing business
The Concert- My favorite music blog...ACB blogs beautifully about being an up and coming soprano on the opera scene
I am Chorus- Canadian Choral Singer
Ionarts- DC classical music scene
Little Ms. Bossy- Opera Stage Director writes about food, books, a little opera, and Life
The Melear-o-sphere- Conductor Eric Melear blogs about music, life, and photos
The Next Hundred Pounds- Cindy blogs about opera singing and weight loss (and how the two intersect)
Opera Chic- All the news of the opera world delivered with edgy wit and interesting analysis by a young American woman in Milan
Operavision- Aprile Millo Blogs
Podium Speak- Canadian Choral Conductor lends his insights into life, music, and choral musings
Rahree- Opera Administrator blogs about her life...in opera and other pursuits
Singing'rin- Rinat Shaham blogs about traveling the world as an opera star
Singing for My Supper- Baltimore-based mezzo/alto who also likes photography
Sticks and Drones- Two Conductors on the Beat
Trying to Remain Opera-rational- Lovely soprano blogs about the funny stories associated with productions and life
YankeeDiva- Gratitude, stories, and photos from Joyce DiDonato

Personal Finance Blogs
Boston Gal's Open Wallet- Just what it says...posts on finances
Debt Hater- she's out of debt and now working on saving for life
My Open Wallet- An anonymous New Yorker tells the world how much money she earns, spends, and saves
Well-Heeled, with a mission- A 20-something on a mission to climb the net worth ladder, navigate the quarterlife, and find that perfect pair of heels

Random Blogs
Fly Fishes Fly- Wonderfully written blogs about an American family living in India
Journey Mama- Rae's insights on life in India with 4 small children
Nervous Birds- Bird-watcher and musician Dan on birds and life
PastaQueen- She lost half of herself weight-wise, wrote a book, and now wittily blogs on a variety of topics, not just weightloss
Young House Love - A young couple blogs about their DIY home projects (and other stuff)

Raise Your Hand if You Can Follow Instructions...

Has anyone else noticed that people in our society can't seem to follow simple instructions? The unfortunate thing about my comment is that I'm not referring to children...but adults. One of the basic things I remember teachers trying to convey in school was the need to follow instructions. Most students seemed to have issues with this in Middle School...but as they went on to High School following directions seemed to become less and less of an issue. I think that process must reverse as people get older...

It seems that one of the consequences of email is that people no longer read anything for detail. When barraged with email after email, I think we get to a point where we skim for pertinent information and ignore details. I find this happens often with emails I send out for training sessions. I have a few sentences bolded and in red in the emails...most importantly "To ensure that you’re able to login to the WebEx session correctly, please attempt to login at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time." Well, most people login about 3 minutes late...and then we spend 10 minutes waiting for the session to load on their computer.

Other people that I work with seem to have the same issue with reading emails. I know that I am a fairly detailed person so I usually read for detail...but the unprofessional mistakes that we accept in the business world these days is astounding. Things like spelling errors (we have spellcheck now!), tardiness, missed deadlines, rude comments...I have a feeling these things would not have been acceptable in the business world 20 years ago. Maybe it's just the industry I work in, but it seems to be a common issue.

Anyway, just had to vent about some things that I've experienced today...