Have a Good Weekend?

as much as i loved today's 60 degree weather, i was THRILLED that it snowed yesterday. snow just has a way of making me feel at peace. and fitting that it snowed, since daN and i drove up to nashua (it's only a 45 minute drive from here) to find me a winter coat. i did something dangerous -- i got a white coat. i know, i know. bad idea. but the thing is, i just don't want a dark winter coat. i can't tell you why not, since they make so much more sense. but i just don't like wearing them. i like dark coats on other people, but not on me. they had a grey, but it was still too dark. alas. but i don't regret it at all -- it's a beautiful coat :)

speaking of colder weather, daN and i had a stressful night putting plastic up over the windows. it helps insulate so well, and the windows here are the original windows, including the glass, from when it was built in the victorian era, so needless to say, the heat exchange rate is outrageous. i'm glad we got it done, and it is already so worth it (it's warmer in here already), but it was hard getting them put on the windows and moving things around to do so, yada yada yada. i'm tired and trying to veg out, but it was totally worth it.

i'm also upset that i'm missing desperate housewives. i mean, YES they're going to have it on after the pats-bills game and everything, but SERIOUSly. i'll be in bed by then.

SPEAKING of bed. i need sleep. i think i'm getting tired and grouchy. but i wanted to update my blog before i went to bed, dammit. i know i've made it sound like i have had a lousy weekend. huh. well, i haven't. i've had a lovely weekend, actually. daN and i went on a nice long walk today and enjoyed the sun, then napped in the afternoon. this contrasting enjoying the miraculously accumulated snowfall of yesterday. and, we finally got something done that we've been meaning to do since we turned the heat on. so yes, good and productive. AND i did over and hour of yoga this morning and got some knitting done while my meuslix was in the oven. mmm. good weekend.

I guess some of you might like to know what i've actually been up to...

you might be getting the impression that all i do is work and yoga. that's so not true! ... not really... i do other things... OK, so that's a really big part of where all my time goes, and i'm happy about that, dammit! no one can take that away from me! except for the work part. i don't need to be spending that much time working. let's face it: 40 hours a week is just too much, especially when you consider that you're actually there for much more than 40 hours a week after lunchbreak. but who's counting? certainly not me... nope, not counting the hours at all...

what else have i been up to? well, this weekend i was extremely creative. it kicked off with seeing "wallace and grommit," (or as i once said, "grimace and wallet") with daN, razz, aria, Q, and ana. it was a wondering night. we ate too many amazing chocolate truffles at aria's before going, so that was fun :) saturday was great -- after i cleverly called tech-support and got our wireless router working again (go me! raise da roof!), daN took me out to lunch at this place i've been wanting to try near davis square called o'natural's, which actually started in maine, and it's incredible. we continued our merry walk to porter square books, where he read terry pratchett's "where's my cow" to me, which is an extremely sweet children's book featuring sam vimes interacting adorably with his child. we hung out there for a while just looking at fun books before progressing to the star market next door so we could pick up supplies for cooking.

YAY cooking! within the next couple hours after walking home, i had produced a lemon apple tart, chilli of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties (ok, so we split the chilli in half once the major ingredients had been issued, and daN put beef in his at that point), and some boston brown bread -- with and without raisins. it was a good night. then, we watched "constantine" starring keanu reaves and that really good chick actress from "runaway jury." as with most catholic end-times inspired gheist/demon films, it was much better than it needed to be. i expected fluff, and it turned out to be a decent movie. i wouldn't necessarily say someone should go out and rent it, but if you're feeling like it, it was a well-done flick.

what else? well, of course, i've been doing a lot of yoga. i think i will take my membership back at the fitcorp gym as i am really liking the yoga instructor for monday nights there as well. that's good to have too.

well, i guess that's a good closing point. this is discombobulated, i can tell. ah well. things are busy. what can ya do?

I love yoga.

Here is where i plan on getting my teacher training next summer: The Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA. Have i already said that?

I love yoga. Have i already mentioned that?

Corporate Policies & Procedures

Please review new corporate policy & procedures:

Dress Code:
It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you aredoing well financially and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you buy nicer clothes, and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore do not need a raise.

Sick Days:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.

Bereavement Leave:
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead relatives, friends or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Toilet Use:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offender" category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sanctioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:
Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management.

3x3 Update

Well, last night i decided that i wouldn't bother going to the forest yoga class at Back Bay Yoga studio. Instead, i'd just go for the 15-Minute Abs class at the gym downstairs from where i work. I have a membership there that expires at the end of this month. OK, so i cancelled it because of taking more yoga classes. But i'm thinking about renewing it because ...

... i accidentally went to the yoga class immediately following the 15-minute abs class. I really liked the instructor, the students didn't get on my nerves at all, and i found it a good pace. It would technically be cheaper for me to keep the membership there and have me keep going to my same yoga instructor, thereby getting in a minimum of two yoga classes that i like per week for $91/month rather than "unlimited" that are in conconvenient locations that i'm not sure i like for $150 per month.

Things to think about. So yes, i still went to yoga yesterday, just a different kind and completely on accident.

3x3

In my group at work, we have a weekly staff meeting where we give our updates to each other in the form of a 3x3 in order to sponsor discussion and keep up on one another at the same time. It's the 3 major accomplishments of the last week followed by the 3 major priorities of the upcoming week. I like the approach (and the name, admittedly) so much that i decided to use it in my update tonight for my personal life.

10/16/2005
Lindsay B. LeClair

Accomplishments:
- Drove to Maine and back in 18 hours to celebrate my Dad's birthday and hang out with Zak and Mandi. Killed two birds with one stone_ Happy Birthday to Dad with a ticket to Zak's performance in "Into the Woods" at the Waterville Opera House that we happen to be going to tonight!
- Drove to Bridgeport, CT and back with Q to see Weezer and the FOO FIGHTERS (!!!) with opening band Hot Hot Heat (who have a really cool logo, by the way)
- Co-hosted Bogland Boston (via Somerville) as Kate and Allin, Lyrica, and Matt all happened to be around here around the same time
- Finally got my nose repierced! Lyrica and Q were with me as i suffered the aftershock of my body getting used to having a metal foreign object lodged in it again for the first time in about a year (had to take the ring out for the surgery).

Priorities:
- Make it to Forest Yoga with a different instructor than last time at the Back Bay Yoga Studio before my 2 week unlimited welcome pass runs out
- See if i can check out the Vinyasa flow yoga class in the O2 Yoga Studio up the street from my house sometime this week


As happens quite frequently, i have the right number of dashes on there even if they're not distibutedly in their places properly. OH WELL. I'll keep you posted.

Also, new feature on the blog -- a link to my latest update of Cheap Vegetarian's Guide to survival. I'm pushing myself to update it as much as i'm encouraging people to look :)

Technical Update

I added things! Check out the new "Featured Articles" section where i provide links to articles that i find poignant, amusing, just plain cool, or a combination of the three. I also ripped off Sabrefencer's "Current Addictions" idea, but i didn't call it that. Hope you like it. If you don't, to hell with you.

A Night at the Bridgeport Arena,
or, I Can Stay Out Just as Late and Rock Out Just as Hard as I Did in High School

The following is an email to my boss to tell him about the concert since he was out on business when i got to the office yesterday afternoon:
"Now, I’ve always loved both bands, but there’s no contest when it comes to which band is stronger and has a better set of performers. WOW. The Foo Fighters were INCREDIBLE. David Grohl is a Rock God. He played the audience like he played his guitar. When he got quiet and acoustic, it was a rare treat, and the audience hushed and paid intense attention. When he rocked out, everyone rocked out. They also switched it up a bit by having David Grohl play the drums for a song, and the drummer played lead. When I went into it, I was hoping they’d do more acoustic than they did, but it ended up being the rockin’-est concert I’ve ever been to. Additionally, the Foo Fighters were so nice.

The drive home wasn’t painful at all. I was surprised. It’s a testament to my night-personhood. I got home at 3am fully charged, and I probably could have stayed awake for another hour."

I arrived at work around 1:20pm, and the GATE team was looking up at me with smiles on their faces, I think wanting to hear all about it, looking expectantly at me. I said, “what –- do I have afterglow or something?” I told them all about it. I told them the only crappy thing was our uncomfortable proximity to “huggy drunk guy” and the security guard’s micromanaging preventing us from getting closer but obviously not protecting anyone from the violent pit or “huggy drunk guy” from himself and others. Yeah. Whew! I’m still pumped. I actually have had hard time not crying when I talk about how incredible it was. This morning while I was getting ready, I listened to the acoustic album and was almost in tears. It was really incredible. Then, when i told daN about it last night, i actually did break out into tears. They were just that good. I had a blast.

For more of a play-by-play read about the concert, check out Q's posting -- no, seriously, read it. Not only is she an excellent writer, but she was there with me.

Foo Fighters and Weezer, a poem.

Me and Q.

In a car.

Driving Far.

Very Far.

What will we,

We two do?

See some Weezer

And the Foo!

More Sad News

Well, while my own life sails along in its direction, the world gets more and more surreal as i learned of some more sad news: a college professor with whom i worked fairly closely was diagnosed with lymphomic leukemia, and one of my dad's best friends was diagnosed with throat and tongue cancer. Seriously. I'm incredulous at this point. How did i end up so lucky, and what's going on in the world right now?

Announcement

I have recently put a stint of work into The Cheap Vegetarian's Guide to Survival in the hopes of eventual completion. Please check it out, and provide comments that are not akin to the ones presently there (soliciters, mind you. Grr. Anyone know how to prevent THEM from commenting?)

Quoteable Quotes:

"People usually endeavor not to fart on one anothers' heads."
-- myself