Yoga is awesome!

It's true. Yoga is really amazing. I, however, cannot do it and therefore, I hate it. It's not that I cannot physically do it, I mean it's hard, but that's not the problem. The issue lies within the fact that I can only meditate or do yoga-like activities for like 5 seconds before my mind starts wandering.

Today, at my work, we had a training meeting on Yoga. That's right, we sat in a semi circle and discussed the foundations and principles of Yoga. Seems like a cool midday meeting to have a work, right? We even did some of the poses. It was, in all actuality, very interesting, informative, and added a fun variety to the day. There was a problem with this seemingly incredible meeting. . . I can't focus for more then like three consecutive seconds. The whole point of Yoga is to bring awareness to the mind, body and breath and to do very focused and purposeful movements to enhance well being. Sounds AWESOME!!! Please sign me and all of my friends up for that! (detect sarcasm here, keep reading and you'll know why)

We did this exercise where we closed our eyes and focused on our entire body, isolating areas from the feet all the way up to the head. You've heard this before, I'm sure. The point is that I was doing one of two things during this exercise and neither of them were Yoga based or beneficial to my well being. I was 1) focusing on an area and thinking about how much it hurt, ached, was out of shape, needed to be stretched or 2) I was defeating the entire purpose and thinking about my plans for the evening. My plans, by the way, are to sit around eating and drinking wine with friends while watching mindless television and chatting about the nonsense that fills our days. There I said it. So we finish with this exercise and she tells us to open our eyes and notice what we became aware of. Well ma'am, I became aware that my body is aging, not in the shape I would like it to be, and would much rather be stuffing my face and getting sauced. Thank you, for that.

...But the bright and shiny thing is that during my normal activities, going through life unaware , I do not notice these things. I call it ignorant bliss.

Maybe one day I will try Yoga on a more serious level because it is awesome afterall, but not now. Nay.

The temperature of the sun...

The surface temperature is approximately 9,900°F (5,500°C). The outer atmosphere of the Sun gets extremely hot and can reach 1.5 to 2 million degrees. The ironic part about this fact is that Tucson is approximately the same temperature today. That's right, I said it. Tucson is the temperature of the sun. Please see www.weather.com should you have any doubts. Wednesday cools down to a nice 101 degrees F.

Some of you may not know what this feels like and believe me, I feel badly about that. Allow me to describe...
1) Time of day does matter: Days in Tucson are divided into warm, hot, really hot, and are you kidding me? It is 100 degrees by the time it is 8a.m. so, if you have to do anything that requires movement, effort, or being active outside my suggestion is to wake up about 4:30a.m. If you're not an early riser consider doing any of these types of things late at night. It cools off a bit by 10p.m. so anytime around then would be good.
2) Entering a vehicle: People here avoid getting in and out of their cars like it is infected with some disease. When you open the door after parking your car in the sun it's kind of like opening the oven after it has been baking something for hours... only without the tasty treat. Forget touching your steering wheel. People here know how to drive with mental focus. Also, you may be lucky enough to accidentally have your seatbelt burn you.
3) Shade is worth more than gold: People park an absurd distance away from where they are going to acquire the smallest bit of shade. This shade may only cover the left headlight and quickly move to the parking space next to you as the day goes on, but it provides sense of ease. It seems like if a tiny piece of your car is under shade you will significantly reduce the heat that will await you inside your vehicle. This is false. Shade is also a precious commodity in terms of parks, yards, patios etc.
4) Existing outdoors: Laying out by the pool is not an option, you must purchase some sort of floating device to actually lay in the pool. In addition, you have to drink at least 17 gallons of water whilst laying in the sun (recommended) and continue to splash water over yourself in a constant and repetitive motion.
So now you kind of get an idea.

At my job I get guests who call and very frequently ask what the weather will be like when they arrive. They say things like, "How hot is it really?"... "But it's not humid right?" ... and even today "It's not too hot to lay out by the pool is it?" The response I want to give for these types of questions is "Listen, Tucson is the temperature of the Sun. It is, in fact, really REALLY hot. No, there isn't much humidity, but at 110 F it's irrelevant." But, I refrain and often direct them to Internet resources for more precise temperatures.

The summers in Tucson also increase my wanderlust ten fold.

You may know this about me, but probably not to the full extent... My first love is travel. I spend a little bit of time each day looking up far away destinations I cannot afford and planning hypothetical excursions. I should have been a geography major. I frequent both www.wanderlust.co.uk and www.lonelyplanet.com in order to ease my wanderlust. In the summer it gets very bad. My draw to other places is on overdrive. So if anyone has any ideas for cheap travel or quick getaways I'm all ears. Just remember I'm baking away in Tucson (which is the temperature of the sun) and suffering from afflictions like Wanderlust and Socialitis. :)

I am here . . . . . . .






. . . .but I want to be here

"I'm only doing karaoke if they have Fergalicious....

... if they have Fergalicious I'm going to kill myself"
Sometimes we put ourselves in situations that we don't want to be in. Everyone does it. A lot of times this will happen when someone says something like the above that he or she will immediately regret.

"They have Fergalicious!!!." Your regret is often validated when the situation is actualized.

Sometimes you can alleviate this by dragging someone through the embarrassment with you. "Fine, I'll do it, but only if you'll be my backup dancer." Many of you may not know the importance of a backup dancer. I don't want to brag, but it's a pretty important role.

Lets's go back, set the scene. Going away work party at Risky Business. Normally I find Risky's business to be rather low-key and not at all risky as the name may suggest, but something was different about this particular occasion. Teammate and I obviously start the evening each with "1/2 gallon" of Blue Moon. It was not an actual 1/2 gallon, although it could have been and I wouldn't know, but it was big. The bartender actually judged us when we ordered it. First of all, Sir, I am actually 23 so don't look at my license like it's a cheap knockoff. Secondly, I would, in fact, like a giant beer. Pronto. Stat. And thank you. So we depart the presence of Captain Shenanigans the bartender who later reveals his name is John, bad choice revealer. Knowing his name made it a lot easier to shout it from across the bar. We head to the table of coworkers who were not judging us for our large beers but instead were spilling their own. Misuse of resources I say, but whatever, it happens. Lots of fun with the Co-workers. "Dance more!"

A round of shots, gallons of Blue Moon, spinach dip, and several conversations later we come to find that 1) only 5 people can really and truly hang on a Wednesday night and 2) it just so happens to be karaoke night.

Ok, now we're all on the same page. 5 people, Fergalicious, backup dancer. Picture it cause it was fantastic. Notable quotes:
"I hope you enjoy.... your train ride."
"I love protein bars."
"I enjoy Blue Moon because it is nutritious.... yeah, it has vitamins.... the orange, hello?"
"Vitamins are awesome! Say something bad about vitamins, I dare you!"
"You can't even spell fat."

Leave a comment and let me know of your office related shenanigans:)
We'll miss you Jesi!

I don't wanna brag or anything

but it's a pretty big deal!

As of this week I will be down to one credit card. I hear your judgements: "Gee, what do you want a pony?"... "Yeah, I've always had only one"... "But how much do have left on your last one?" And you know what?
1) I would like a pony, but would prefer a monkey or a goose 2) congrats to you and 3) kind of a lot, but with all this nonsense we are getting off track.



I may or may not have spent a rather obscene amount of money approximately a year and 1/2 ago loving life. You know what I've learned? Sometimes loving life is rather costly and also sometimes I can't afford to do it. But, you know who can? Discover Card, American Express, and Visa. So I made friends with these three and had a kick ass time for about 3 months. Granted, I've been paying for it ever since, but have not once regretted it.

In fact, my excitement about paying off these pieces of plastic that harbor my debt is two fold. One, I would like to have more opportunities for saving and reallocate my income. Freedom! Also, I would like to feel like, if the opportunity arose, I could frivolously spend money I don't have again. One of the largest frustrations I have with debt is the feeling that I can no longer acquire more. I, for the last year of my life, have been at my personal maximum capacity of debt and it's damn near suffocating. Have no fear, the end is near.

Holler

When Socialitis goes awry...

Sooooooo... you know you have Socialitis when... you find yourself at work (9:30am on a Sunday) hating yourself and not being able to see straight. Driving to work this morning was hazardous to all, I'm pretty sure I have internal damage, and I'm perma-annoyed with many things including the fact that I'm not in bed.

You know your Socialitis has gotten out of control when you can't even imagine the next time you want to leave your home, the thought of drinking makes your stomach churn, and you are making unrealistic vows to have more down time.

Yesterday was, by any definition, fantastic. I woke up way too early for a Saturday, headed out to go tubing on the Salt River with a group of friends for some relaxation and shenanigans, ate delicious delicious In 'n' Out Burger, and after a bit of down time went out to 4th Avenue for some last hoorah moments with two friends who are leaving town today. Super. Great. Couldn't have been better. One exception, once you reach the point of delerium and are hung over at midnight o'clock the fun stops. Sleep becomes your only goal. You start wanting to sleep like it's your job, like you are going to work and you're not settling with anything less than employee of the freakin month. That's when it's no bueno.

So here I am, at work, hating each moment, and looking forward to the soft comforts that are my bed. As I watch the clock tick slowly towards 6pm I can imagine my head resting comfortably on my 46 pillows.