With Cheer and Goodwill...

Today after lunch, I was heading back to my office and decided I would stop at Goodwill. I wasn't necessarily looking for something specific, though I am in the market for a dresser for my guest room. 

However, I'm not in a hurry to get the dresser so I was just browsing to see if I could find anything exciting. As I was walking through the housewares section, I saw this:

So, I wondered, who donates an already burnt candle to charity?

Seriously, wouldn't you just throw this away?

And furthermore, why did Goodwill put this out for sale. 

At the next Goodwill store, I saw a young boy taking things from one section and seemingly hiding them in another section and it made me think of another time that allegedly happened.

Like six or so years ago, Freckles and I were going to a Halloween party and we needed costumes. We did what a lot of people our age do when faced with this dilemma - we hit the thrift shop. (What, what, what, what.)

On that shopping trip we decided pretty quickly that we would dress up like 80s ladies. We found most of what we needed for our outfits, but I needed some shoes.

Luckily I found a bright blue pump that would be perfect with the leg warmers I was going to wear.

Yes, you read that right, I found A pump. Just one.

So Freckles and I searched the rest of the shoe section, to no avail. Then we asked a girl who worked there if they keep shoes in the back. She didn't think so, but she went back there to check.

When she came out to tell us that the matching shoe was not in the back, another girl who worked there informed us that sometimes customers will hide things that they want to buy until 50% off day comes. 

Not willing to give up this integral part of my costume, Freckles and I searched high and low in that store! We looked under every rack of clothes, in every washing machine and dryer, opened suitcases and purses. There was no shoe!

The girl at the front told me that she would hold the one shoe that I had and hopefully they would find its match when they were cleaning up the store after closing. I agreed to that.

The next day, Freckles and I went back to the store and they hadn't found the shoe.

Me: Can I buy that shoe?

Cashier: The one shoe? 

Me: Yes, please.

Cashier: Um, you'll have to pay for the pair.

Me: That's fine.

Cashier: But you're going to only get one shoe.

Me: Yes, I understand.

Cashier: I'm not sure I understand.

Me: Ring me up for the pair of shoes and I'll take the one home. I will not let someone else win this battle. This is about principle now.

I still have that shoe.

It is a decoration in my house...

In Hindsight, I May Have Overcommitted Myself

I feel like overcommitment is the story of my life. Seriously, I start every week thinking, I'm going to get so much done this weekend. Then things start creeping up.

At the end of a busy weekend, I rarely regret the events I go to or the friends I hang out with, but when it comes to be Sunday evening and I have no food prepared for the week, I start hyperventilating.

Okay, that may be a little dramatic.

 Either way, this weekend, though crazy busy, was excellent!

Something you  may not know about me is that I don't like to do things unless I know that I am going to be the best at them.

I know, it sounds irrational because VERY rarely is anyone the best at something the first time that they try it, but it is my irrational.

I think CrossFit has been good for me in this respect. Almost never am I the best at anything at CrossFit (except maybe lifting), and very often, I am the worst at things. But I keep going back and learning and improving and building and growing.

(Sidenote: did you see the Friends episode when Joey is going to marry Chandler and Monica and he keeps talking about giving and receiving? That is totally what I just thought about when I was typing that.)

So, last weekend I took a golf lesson that we "won" by coming in last at a charity tournament, and the instructor told me, "You have a great swing - you just need to play more."

Randomly, on Monday, Trainer texted that he still wanted to play golf with me again, so I took him up on it, and we made a tee time for Sunday morning.

On Tuesday, he texted that he had a friend he wanted to invite - a guy who works for PING. It is safe to say that I freaked out a little.

I mean, a guy who works for PING is probably a really good golfer, right? And me? I'm not.

I verbalized this to Trainer - he told me I was crazy - I didn't deny it - we went golfing anyway - PING joined us - I had a freaking blast!

I may need you all to remind me of that the next time I shy away from doing something because I'm afraid of failure. 

Ringing In the Year of Fitness

Remember back on my birthday, when I stated that this would be the year of fitness for me? And that I was signing up for a triathlon?

Well, I had to postpone the triathlon, though I haven't ruled one out in the beginning of November - does anyone have a bike I can borrow?

Either way, it was shaping up to not be the year of fitness for me.

And then, little things kept happening. I kept reading articles about people setting goals and reaching them. Or seeing examples of life being too short. Or watching videos of my favorite CrossFit athletes talking about pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Then, one of the guys at the gym told me about a competition that he had signed up for in November. There is a scaled category. I went back and forth, and finally decided that at some point, I was going to have to push myself outside of my comfort zone. And now seemed like that time.

Well, Nov. 16. The Saturday after I come back from a week of vacation.

Clearly, I've taken leave of my senses.

In an effort to not make a total ass of myself, I have stepped it up a little at the gym. I'm going in on Wednesday evenings for extra help with rope climbs, and to work on some other weaknesses (like rowing and pull-ups). 

Traditionally, on Tuesdays, we work on gymnastics skills and then do a WOD with either rowing or running - sometimes both. This past Tuesday, we were supposed to work on muscle ups, atlas stones, and max height box jumps - rotating through the stations as we progressed.

I am HORRIBLE on the rings. Literally, the only thing I can do on them is hang. People are getting upside down and doing dips and all kinds of crazy, and I'm like, "la, la, la, I'm a monkey..."

So, the coach had me working on the short rings, and just doing static holds with a band. I do that and he says, "That's too easy. Try a dip." So I go down in a dip and as I'm pressing back up out of it, my muscles start to fail. Rather than step out of the band and onto the floor, I just start falling. Nearly face planting on the floor of the gym. 

I honestly have no idea, how I managed to land without hurting myself, but I did. And I looked up at the coach and he said, "Are you ok?" I answered that I was, in fact, fine. And he said, "Next time, when you are approaching that redline - go ahead and just step out of the band."

Advice he probably never thought he'd have to give.

Here To Pump. You Up.

Disclaimer: I sat down to write this post last week and then quit. I have had lots of thoughts since Sept. 3 about posting, but by the time I get to the computer, it's like writer's block has creeped in and I stare at a blank page. I am honestly trying to work out an evening routine that includes sitting at my computer to write for at least a half hour a night. Bear with me as I transition.

I went to get a pedicure a couple of weeks ago, it had been months since my last full pedicure and I was very excited about the relaxation that was about to commence. I brought the book that I was reading, I had a bottle of water, life was going to be great! It probably wasn't the worst pedicure I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't great. I felt like the woman was in a rush to complete it and she was not real gentle. She was moving into the reduced tip category in a hurry.

Then it came time to put lotion on my legs, one of my favorite parts of the pedicure. As she started to rub the lotion in, she made an ugly face and said, "Muscles..." I nearly kicked her and said, "How do you like them now?"

Needless to say, she didn't get a tip.

Going Postal...

As you can see in the post below this one, DVL and I looked DAMN GOOD at the wedding we attended together. And when you look that good, you print and frame that picture!

So that's just what I did. Printed a copy for me and a copy for DVL. And I framed his and put it in the mail to him so that he would get it when he got back to town from a work trip to California.

My plans were foiled by the USPS. They have lost the package. Seriously, it is gone.

I don't really understand how it can happen, but I had to call the Customer Care line last week to see what the story was.

USPS: Thank you for calling Customer Care, this is Nick, how can I help you?
Me: I am fairly certain that a package I mailed last week has been lost.
USPS: Oh no - do you have a tracking number?
Me: Yes. (Reads tracking number)
USPS: Yeah, it looks like it was scanned in Peoria, but it never scanned again. Let me get some information from you. What's your name and address?
Me: (Give him my name and address.)
USPS: And who was the package sent to?
Me: DVL
USPS: What's the address?
Me: (Give him DVL's address.)
USPS: What was in the package?
Me: A framed picture.
USPS: Of what?
Me: Two people.
USPS: Could you be more specific?
Me: Ummm - me and DVL.
USPS: Ok - so a man and a woman.
Me: Yes.
USPS: And were you wearing formal clothes? Or casual clothes?
Me: He is wearing a tux and I'm in a black dress.
USPS: Wow - that's specific. Is is a color photo? Was it taken indoors? Or outdoors?
Me: Yes. Indoors. And I'm wearing orange shoes. And I look good.
USPS: Do the orange shoes pop?

I can see that this exercise is going to lead us nowhere... And I'm not surprised that the USPS is broke.