Wednesday morning RANT

MOST days, i say in the most strenious tone, mooost days i like cincinnati. BUT lately i am HATING this city.  For one major reason: this city's PUBLIC WORKS SERVICES!!! UGH!!!!  Where do i even start? It's like the last month has been riddled with disappointments everywhere. No less the entire time i have lived in the suburban areas, the roads are RIDICULOUS!!! I dont know the stats exactly, but i know Oakley and Hyde Park do have some of the highest city taxes in all of cincinnati. I mean, how could they not? And t hey cant afford to put a little money into the pot hole filled roads! They are EV-ER-Y-WHERE!!!! I actually cant think of a a road that doesn't have at least ONE major hole in it.... COME ON CINCINNATI!!!

Next, now that it is spring you know what that means? Yard work. And with yard work, you get  YARD WASTE. A couple weeks ago almost every neighbor on my street had multiple bags of stuff for yard waste disposal. We have a ton of leaves and grass clippings and bags of weeds too.  Trash service came and went and guess what was left, ALL THE YARD WASTE. Turns out, they GOT RID OF THIS SERVICE. And you know the best part, THEY RAISED OUR CITY TAXES this year!!!! Can you believe this city??? How many more inconveniences can they possibly provide for us? O wait, hold on, they do have an alternative for us... we can drive to Newton and dispose of the waste ourselves. Right? SO convenient, like we want to put nasty heavy bags of dirt inside our cars. O limbs of trees and sticks, right inside our beautiful backseats because most waste is too big to fit in trash cans anyway. COME ON CINCINNATI!!!!

But the inconveniences get worse. Yesterday on the way into work the major on ramp by my house was close to the interstate southbound to downtown. O not to worry, no one in the area wants to use the interstate in the morning, and definitely not to go downtown.  O ya, NO DETOUR SIGNS POSTED, o ya, NO WARNINGS EITHER!!! So guess what, turns out it wasn't just a one day inconvenience, it was closed again today. And still no detour signs.  In fact, artimus says it might be closed indefinitely. INDEFINITELY!??? Seriously??? How can you close a major route to tons of people east of downtown INDEFINITELY??? O wait, our roads are sooo bad we cant even fix them to help make people's lives a little more convenient..... it's a never ending cycle i guess. And i suppose the public workers are only going to get lazier since we apparently expect NOTHING out of them. THey have construction all over town, but when you think about it, you hardly see anyone working, EVER. But dont get me started on that one.

COME ON CINCINNATI!!!

Last weekend

So my last somewhat relaxing weekend at HOME has come and gone... and I must say it was quite good. Although i am sad to see it go.  A quick recap before i get back to work:
Friday i went to the gym,  ran some errands, went to Teak for dinner with Matt (YUM), went home and walked with Matt and Odie, ran to BB&B (but it was closed since it was after 9pm), went to Yagoot (another YUM), then went to target and home to relax. GREAT day.
Saturday: Woke up with matt, went to McD's to split an egg mcMuffin (um, YUM) and a hashbrown, then headed up to his parents house so he could help out with tractor stuff. I played with my nephews all afternoon and visited with my sister in law, even though it was a miserable rainy afternoon. It cleared up and we went out to Greek Isles for dinner and then over to matt's friend B's house for his 30th birthday party. It was a great time, and matt had a ton of fun with B.
Sunday:  Woke up and went to the gym, matt helped CV move into his new apartment right around the CORNER from our house. A 1.5 minute walk! Then i did some laundry and went over there to see it and have lunch with them. Then Matt and i took odie on a long walk, did some yard work and cut the grass for the first time, and then out to El Toro a yummy mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was sunny and 85 degrees yesterday... it was a GREAT day.
So great weekend all in all.....
But here is whats coming up the next few weeks, thus not having another free weekend until, well, JUNE.
This weekend: E Bachelorette party , so i need to be in cleveland friday, and then driving to Port Clinton on Saturday and Sunday, and drive home to cinci on Sunday.
Weekend after: Easter weekend: Drive to cleveland
Weekend after: CRUISE!!!!
Weekend after: return from CRUISE!!!
Weekend after: E's wedding in cleveland
Weekend after: Combined Bacherlor/Bachelorette party for friends J and D in Dayton
weekend after: J and D's wedding in Dayton
weekend after: JUNE.... and right now, FREE!!!!!

All good stuff, dont get me wrong... just A LOT going on.
And mid month i have a work trip to New Orleans in May which means i will be home even less. It makes my head hurt.

But that's all i got for now.

Another non notable post....

I am rather unmotivated at work today, although I am swamped with stuff on my to-do list. We are amidst Spring Budget Formulation so I am usually the lead on this with practically my entire team on some combination or work related travel, annual leave or temporary duty. But id rather be busy than bored.
None the less, my blog is neglected and I feel compelled to pay it some attention.

Now what do i have to say?

I know i have been struggling over the past year over what to share on here and what not to, based on the nature of whats going in my life and the privacy of those involved. In any case whatever is posted on here,  I am realizing is that i have been learning all kinds of lessons. No one chooses to be involved in stressful, tough situations; people chose money, beauty, power, etc.... people don't choose character development.  That is last on the list.  I know i cant hold up my vision of the world 2+ years ago right next to my vision of the world today and compare the two. But i do know the two views are very different.  The landscape is bigger, the colors are a little more vibrant, i have picked up on details that i never noticed, and some things in the perspective have picked up new meaning to me.

I also know that the time seems to go so much faster; it's funny that you always hear from grandparents your entire childhood that time goes quicker as you get older... but i never though i would feel it in my twenties. I mean  the days and weeks go so quick, where does the time go? I do need to remind myself to slow down a lot, and it's a tough thing to remember....

A lot of the little things  that used to wind me up no longer bother me. Things in my head involving my friends used to eat away at my heart,  problems outside my control used to make me so nervous, I started letting go of things i have held on to and stressed about for way longer than need be.  My faith has played a big role, as well as the incredible people that are in my life.

Now, i don't think anything that has been happening my life has been notably catastrophic.... it's just the stuff of life; there are ups and there are downs. I mean all i need to do it think about the Haiti disaster over a year ago and now the tsunami in Japan a couple weeks ago-- devastation that just seems inconceivable. Suffering that you cannot physically wrap your mind around unless you are actually living it.   How precious life is and disasters like this DO happen..... my heart just fills up emotion.

But to bring things back to the daily level, i am learning to appreciate these every day lessons. And i am cherishing the really, really good days. Like spending J's birthday with her and A last night. Going to the dari bar, laughing, sharing, being there fore each other.  Or even listening to a friend cry on the phone and feeling in my heart she will be OK and this is what true friendship is. Or hearing such extreme happiness in my Mom's voice yesterday over the phone, and having her tell me how much she cant wait to give me a hug. Its the moments you don't really remember later but the feelings you don't shake.

Until next time....

Quick update.

I haven't posted in a while.... mainly for lack of content i am willing to share. However, the good news is things are finally starting to look up. And the best part, we have a brief peak into spring this week. Windows open, sun shining, birds chirping in the morning. O ya, and longer days! The sun isn't setting until well after 7, almost 8 now..... These things make me happy.

IN other news, my joy right now being spinning classes, i finally broke down and brought a heart rate monitor. AND it is AWESOME! I can finally track to see what zone i am working in during the ride, check to see it it hit my 90th percent heart rate zone, and see how many calories i am burning. Yesterday;s class was the first class and i loved it. Although i was surprised that didn't burn as many calories as i would have thought, only 452. Which doesn't really seem like a whole lot.... but i guess we'll see if it changes depending on the kind of ride we have.

March is almost over, i cant believe it's the 22nd. Last week we celebrated Odie McPoderson's 6th birthday on the 15th. Happy birthday, little man!  Next weekend i might be able to see my family again! In a more relaxed setting (a very happy thing),  and before i know it April is right around the corner.

Our lilies have started to come up around our house. I AM ready for the cold to be behind me!

Until next time....

No Title

Its fascinating that the more we understand about the mind, the more we learn that we don't understand it.  I say this because as i go through this hopefully brief section of my life, I am gaining an ever growing appreciation for a healthy life style and a healthy mind.  The past week or so dealing with one of life's many curve balls, has really brought a lot of issues in my own life to light.   I thought what i went through last year in June with one of my best friends was one of the hardest things to deal with and understand, but i guess that experience was just preparing me for this past week.  And although i cannot go into detail for my family's privacy, i think i have a lot of lessons to learn that i don't need to be so cryptic about.

1). Relationships are important and no matter what you are going through in life, the relationships that have real value are the ones that can withstand anything.  

2) It's important to be honest with yourself and others. When you think you need to be secretive about something you should re-evaluate what you are really doing.

3). The stress you have in your life is normal, but understanding the problem that stressed you out AS WELL AS the stress you have really are two problems that need to be delt with. The ladder being the most important.

4) Family comes first, there will be no other people as important as family.

A very small handful of people in my life know about the 'curve ball' that my family is dealing with right now. But it's a little gift to feel the happiness remembering that the people that do know are indispensable in my life. And in my family's life.

And that it's important to take care of yourself above all else.



** this post my have not made much sense, i am very tired and exhausted writing it.... but felt it was worth posting.

A brief peak into spring

I havent written in a long time, I havent had much motivation and i really dont have much motivation right now either. But it's been a full month so i figured i say something. Although a lot has been happening on the work front- ups and downs-- the best thing happening right now is the weather. I am looking out my office window, somewhat smelling the fresh flowers i inherited from my coworkers from valentines day, and enjoying the sunshine knowing it;s over 60 degrees outside right now. Now i know winter isn't over yet, but this is a much, MUCH needed relief from the cold and gloom.

I finally caught some sort of cold that seems to be developing since last night. I went to my coworker's, L's, gym last night to her workout class, lifted some weights and today i feel stuffy and weak. Hopefully i am only weak due to the weight lifting and not something flu oriented. But i must say i have resisted the multiple ailments matt's entire family has gotten over the last month. Every time i see them someone is sick, or throwing up, or sneezing, or oozing some sort of mucus. TOo much information?
Hopefully whatever i have passes quickly.

I am going out of town for work next week for a few days.
Not too much planned this weekend besides helping M move and seeing my parents.  But i need to savor the free time because March is looking busy. And once April comes and goes May has no free time whatsoever. But i got to live each day, day by day.

Mid month overview...

I had a four day weekend and I am back to work today. I should be thrilled to start the week on a Tuesday but alas i am only more tired and less motivated than ever.  I haven't posted in a while so let me recap some of the highlights of this month to far....

- Girls dinner at champs with J and S to meet up and catch up
- Pizza night with E, C, J, C and hanging out
- Hanging out wht B and A for dinner at their house
-Spending time with my sister in law and watching my Godson climb up the slide and down the slide all by himself
-Going to spinning classes
- Meeting up with my parents and having good conversation with a good dinner in Columbus
-The first book club meeting
-Trying out our new juicer for the first time with tangerines and apples

Things i am looking forward to this month:
-Seeing my best friend next weekend
-Going to the Thank You Party and hearing M sing
-Going to spinning classes
-Seeing Burn the Floor with J &A
-Catching up with J &A
- GOING TO VEGAS for alll FUN with the fam
-Going to see Jersey Boys in Vegas
- Going to a nice dinner in Vegas with my brothers/sister-in laws.

Things not so great this month
-Getting weird blood work results back from my first Physical in many, MANY years
- Having our microwave crap out on us this weekend(making it the 3rd built in appliance in our kitchen to break in the last year)

I guess not a lot of 'not so great' things happening. I feel so busy, all the weekends seem so packed. And I know in the next few months with all the weddings i have this year, all the wedding related activities (shows, b-parties, etc) will only add up even more.  The entire month of may is insane. O the costs of boarding my dog will make my head! (poor ode!). I only see a couple of work trips in the next quarter. One trip to DC and one trip to New Orleans. Both not looking so bad (both 3-4 days each).  Things are good i think.... and we are still only in January (THANK GOSH!)

Until next time...