37 posts tagged “weekend retrospective”
Right now I am working on a massive Microsoft Project file for work. I can't work off the originals since I don't have the program uploaded on my computer yet, so I'm working from scratch. I'm not sure how much of a benefit it is to start from scratch, but I can at least play around with the file a little more.
I am feeling better today. I am a tough cookie.
I am very tired. Lately I can't fall asleep unless it's past midnight. And last night my neighbors downstairs were slamming doors and walking loudly and God knows what else. For once it didn't bother me, because I know that it's hard to gauge sometimes how loud I have the TV - maybe they hear my TV all the time and don't complain. I ended up drifting off to sleep anyway and woke up this morning to head downtown for my 9:00 meeting. Except the meeting was canceled by email at 8:20, when I was still in the car, so I drove 45 minutes for nothing. Oh well. Good driving practice, right? Right.
This weekend was fun. I went with my friend Conrad to the haunted house and a movie on Saturday night. It wasn't scary, of course, but they did a really good job with it. There were two little kids in front of us freaking out. Some guy dressed up as the dude from Texas Chainsaw Massacre started sniffing me too, which was kind of funny. There were only 2 parts of the haunted house that were a little creepy. The first was when we were walking through what was supposed to be someone's living room, and this guy ran by in his underwear holding pictures. You got the impression that he was a serial killer or pedophile or someone gross, and I found that part creepy. Then we walked through this room where a bunch of fake meat was hanging, and they had the strobe lights going so you could barely see what was going on in front of you, and everything came in flashes. That was a little creepy too. But other than someone jumping out at me at the VERY END and making me jump, no thrills.
I have been trying to exercise more regularly lately. Usually I only work out 2-3 times a week with a run, but I don't think that is enough. Not counting dancing, I worked out 4 times last week, so that is good. I had a really good run on Sunday. It was just beautiful outside. I warmed up by walking about 1.75 miles listening to The Beatles, and then ran about another 4 miles afterward. My only mistake was I hadn't had anything to eat since I didn't want to be full while I ran, so I was completely starving by the end. If I'd had something to eat, I think I may have been able to run longer.
I had a really good run yesterday as well. I had been planning on sandbagging it, but we had to do relays with a partner. My partner ended up being one of the fastest girls in the group, so I was like, craaap I have to bring it. I am nowhere near as good of a runner as she is, but I had to at least be respectable. Our relays were 8 x 300 m. It's all mental - 300 meters is just short enough for me to be able to run fast without feeling like I'm going to collapse. I was doing pretty well until after the 6th one when my stomach was all, "Hey, so I'm kind of in pain." "Shut up, stomach," I said to myself firmly. "You only have two more left to go." After the 7th lap, my stomach said, "OK LOOK, Jenny, I'm in pain. Why don't we stop? You can finish your lap later." "Stop being a pussy," I retorted. "You have only 300 meters left! That's less than two minutes out of your life. Woman up." So I put on "All My Life" (seriously, Foo Fighters is my running soundtrack, especially for the end when I need to feel motivated - even if I'm tired, I'll just put on "All My Life" or "The Pretender" and feel like kicking so much ass). I found myself running faster and faster, passing people up and sprinting towards the finish line.
"Daaaamn!" my partner said when I finished. "That was your fastest yet!" I hadn't been timing myself, but apparently I'd been running each lap faster and faster after the fourth lap, finishing lap #8 off at 1:12. I felt really proud of myself and we talked for a bit afterward. Then my stomach was all, "BITCH. I TOLD YOU. I AM IN PAIN. PAIN PAIN PAIN." So the next ten minutes were rather painful, but other than that, I felt great with my run.
I want a nap. I am looking forward to this weekend.
This weekend was an enormously satisfying one, as I was able to be completely lazy but still have a good time with friends. Also, I'm not sick anymore, so that is double plus good.
Yesterday I lounged around in my apartment until the evening, when I went to go meet the Conrad and one of his friends for a movie. I wanted to see Inglourious Basterds. Now, I'm not a big Tarantino fan. I mean, I love Pulp Fiction but I haven't seen many of his other well-known movies (Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, the Grindhouse flicks). I did not like the Kill Bill movies at all, but since I was making out with talking to my then-boyfriend throughout the duration of the films, I guess I really didn't give them a fair chance. But I have to say, Inglourious Basterds was really good. It has all the elements of a Tarantino flick - random Samuel L. Jackson narration, title cards, twisted gory humor. I went into the movie without knowing too much about the plot, so I sat through most of it wondering if the film were based on a true events (silly me!) If you're looking for a conventional Nazi war drama, this is not it. There are more dialogue-driven scenes than anything, but many of them were suspenseful (like the opening scene). I have to admit I was pissed off at the ending for about 10 seconds before resigning myself to the novelty of it. Oh, and the acting is incredible - even Brad Pitt, who I am usually very critical of, did a good job.
Today I went to the funky street that I explored on Friday to eat lunch with a friend. It was fun. We also went to get coffee and watched a live band perform. They were jazzy and bluesy, and very good. I even did a little dancing on the last song, but I was terrrrrible because I was so out of practice (plus it was hard to dance on the pavement wearing sandals.) Some people started taking pictures of us, good lord. But anyway, I definitely like the feel of that street and want to return to it more often, especially since I work so close to it whenever I'm downtown. I even found a school parking lot to park at, so parking was a breeze.
Another three hours until TRUE BLOOD. I cannot wait. A great ending to a very nice weekend.
1. Went home this weekend to drop Pat off so he could go to his metal concerts in San Antonio. It was a good weekend. On Friday morning I got less than 3 hours of sleep because I didn't go to bed until late, and I had to wake up early to accompany a family member to the hospital for outpatient treatment. On Saturday, I went to my little godsister Raquel's birthday party. I can't believe she's already four. I remember sitting in the hospital when she and her brothers were being born. Crazy. Also, I dyed my hair. It is blondish...not as blond as I'd like. There is always next time.
2. I'm slightly sick with a weenie little...cold? I have no idea what it is. I don't have a stuffy nose or even feel bad. It's just my throat is scratchy and I sound like a smoker when I talk. Laryngitis? I really don't know what it is, and I have no idea where I caught it from. At least I didn't get sick like I did last year after ACL, that sucked. I hope it goes away by Thursday. I usually only get sick once a year. I hope this fills the quota for this year.
3. Ok, I will try not to blabber on too much about True Blood, but seriously, you guys, this show is giving me unrealistic expectations of what my next boyfriend should look like:
If I'm still single in five years because I'm waiting for someone tall, blond, and buff to walk into my life, then I'm totally blaming this show.
So I didn't go to bed until 2 this morning, for no reason, really. I didn't do anything special, just hung out with family and then chilled listening to David Bowie to put off going to bed. Then I woke up at 6:45 this morning because I am AWESOME and can function with little sleep (sometimes). My brother and I went out to eat with my dad's "book club." Afterward my mom and I had a hair appointment. I dyed my hair auburn and then at the last minute decided to cut my bangs. My stylist cut them so they can look kind of punk rock (depending how I style them), so I like them...so far. Except they make me look even younger than I actually am.
Then I went out to eat with Tap and his friend at TGI Friday's. I had a good sandwich to eat off the $5 menu, but the drink was like $2.30. What's up with that? Then we went to the mall to hang out. I bought some t-shirts on sale at The Gap.
Then on the way home, I totally hydroplaned when making a left turn because the roads were still slick and I took off too fast, I guess. I'm glad no one was in the other lane when I did, or else I would have been in trouble. So that was kind of scary. I guess you would think with my hydroplaning, parking ticket, and scratched/dented vehicle, you would think I'm a bad driver. I'm NOT (usually)...just getting EXPERIENCES.
I'm getting sleepy. Which is sad, right? Because it's not even 10 o'clock on a Saturday. But I've had little sleep today, so it's understandable.
...well, I did some stuff, but it was overall a nice, perfectly lazy weekend. It has been cloudy up here, so it feels very wintery. The weather is in the 60s, meaning that we Texans pile on the sweaters and coats. To think in Virginia I used to run around in shorts in that weather, and how Pat and I would get in trouble for playing without our coats in the 50 degree weather.
Friday night I went to the Welcome Dance for the Lindy Exchange. I didn't pay $90 for the full weekend (which is a ridiculous price for just a couple of dances). They were offering "a la carte" pricings of $20 for individual dances. I still struggled with that one, since I'm pretty cheap, but I thought that going to just one would be an acceptable splurge. Plus, it was a live band, so that's always worth it. It was fun. I was a little disappointed at the turn-out though. There seemed to be fewer people than our regular Thursday night dances, not anything like the 200 people everyone was expecting. Regardless, we still have one of the best swing scenes in the state and I enjoyed myself. I saw my old swing teacher from College Station there. There were tons of amazing dancers there...I have a lot to learn, haha. But I still enjoyed myself. I am looking forward to the Championships in January...full weekend of dancing, PLUS workshops, and the registration price is actually cheaper than the Lindy Exchange's. Seems like a much better deal to me.
Yesterday I went to the ritzy little shopping mall, the place I go to when I want to window shop and not buy anything because I can't afford anything there. This is the place where people bring their children and nannies, and walk out of Louis Vuitton stores with large bags. The only place I can semi-afford is Macy's, and I decided to go there yesterday to pick up some foundation. I was amazed at the traffic there. The parking lot was completely full, which never happens, and there were groups of people parking far away and walking towards the venue. It was like ACL-lite. Naturally, I had to see what the fuss was about. It turned out that it was a tree-lighting ceremony, and apparently Jordin Sparks was supposed to be there. I stayed for about five minutes and got bored, and decided that I didn't care enough about Jordin Sparks or seeing a tree being lit up to stick around. I couldn't believe that so many people would put themselves through that traffic just to see a tree being lit up. I mean, it's not the Rockefeller Center, you know? On my way back to my car, I saw a limo driving in. Maybe it was her? Of all the American Idol winners, I find her and her music pretty bland and boring. And that's saying a lot.
Work tomorrow. I'm like a college kid excited for vacation, except that you have five finals to go through before getting there. My brain is already in vacation mode, and it makes for focusing on work-related activities rather difficult. Sometimes I seriously wonder if I have some undiagnosed ADD. Remember that ADD commercial where the woman is in a work meeting but there's random thoughts going through her head, like her kid's birthday party or something, and she can't focus? My brain is like that a lot, even when it's not almost vacation time. Haha.
Before I go...remember that you can get your free Dr Pepper for today only if you log on. I'm kind of disappointed that Chinese Democracy was finally released, you know? It's like when you're a kid and you realize that the Tooth Fairy is really your mom or dad. It was more epic when it was unreleased. My brother, who's a pretty big GnR fan, says that it's not as bad as he was expecting but that it isn't an Appetite for Destruction.
I need to stop being lazy. I have to go running today...the cloudy weather wants me to stay inside though. I'll make it out there sometime today. Have a good Sunday!
Today was a pretty busy day, and after my last entry, I'm too exhausted to write anything out properly. So I present to you my bulleted update:
- Friday night kinda sucked.
- Saturday was fun. Friend came into town, hung out with friends, ate at TGI Friday's. Got full off of a couple of chicken wings because TGI Friday's sucks. Went to watch Quantum of Solace.
- Went to Target for the first time in two months. Went clothes shopping for the first time in two months. Bought really cute dress:
- Went running 6.5 - 7 miles yesterday and did 4 x 300s and 2 x 700s today. Tried to keep 8:30 - 9:00 minute mile pace for long run - mostly successful. Am frustrated with my times (3:15 for 700 was my fastest) still but I guess I can't be too hard on myself, since I did a long run yesterday.
- Funny story on Sunday involving Pearl Jr. but you all will think I'm a bad driver if I tell it. It has to do with my atrocious parking skillz, or lack thereof.
- Okay, what the hell - so back in April, I was in a parking garage, the most NARROW PARKING GARAGE IN EXISTENCE, I SWEAR Y'ALL, and ended up backing up against a pillar. So now my truck has these sexy scratches (and, cough, a dent) against the front left side. So yesterday while I was in a parking lot, a man approached me. I was all ready to get defensive, like, "Why is this strange man coming to talk to me?" But it turns out he was trying to hand me a business card because he owns a body shop and would like to fix my truck. Sigh. Men always flip out over my truck. It's not that bad.
- Now you know why I try to avoid parking garages at all costs.
- Tomorrow, I hope that the parking lot downtown is not blocked off like it was on Friday, or else I'll be forced to park in garage. DUN DUN DUNNNNNN.
- Made some Southwestern Chicken fajita thingy tonight-pretty good.
- Folded an inordinate amount of maps for tomorrow's THC meeting.
- I'm pretty wiped. Goodnight, you guys.
Well, it is already Monday. The weekend went by quickly, but I'm proud because it was actually productive. Friday night I went blues dancing. There weren't as many people there as usual, maybe because of the ~hurricane~. I was talking more than I was actually dancing, but it was just as fun. Saturday...what did I do? Oh yeah, got caught up on some magazines, had some sushi that was not from HEB (phoenix rolls, yum yum), went to Half Price and Walmart. This Half Price was in the middle of the city and it is the biggest one I have ever been to. Ever. I was in heaven. I even got some items from my proverbial to-do list finished.
So now the apartment is nice and clean, my laundry is done, I filed away all my papers AND I made meals for this week-enchiladas and Ragu'. I made a quick dessert too. Then I went salsa dancing yesterday. I need to start taking those mini-classes again, because I am failing at salsa. All those fucking spins and turns. It was a semi-interesting night...dudes, if I don't know you and you are drunk, do not wrap me in a hug. Because you are going to get shoved. Then I hit someone in the face with my elbow by accident. Yeah! If you want to dance with me, put some bubble wrap on yourself and you're all set. Seriously. Luckily the person I hit was a good sport and asked me to dance a couple more times. I was like, "Are you sure? You're brave."
Work today wasn't bad. I went running afterward. It was a mile and then four 300's. I did my mile in 7:30, so I guess that isn't so bad. But it needs work. I hardly ran at all last week because of staying late at work, so I really wanted to head out tonight. The weather was AMAZING. It was in the 70s, which in Texas, that's almost sweater weather. I wish it could stay like this for the next several weeks.
I was going to write more but I don't really have any more to say. So I will go.
...because where I went to school, we didn't celebrate Labor Day. So while all my friends at other colleges were off, I was in class and going to work. Yeah, I don't get it either. It felt really good to do nothing on Labor Day. The long weekend was fun and just what I'd been needing. I left the city at 9:15 am on Friday, which was perfect, because I encountered no rush hour traffic and didn't have to stop at all either. That happens very rarely. Patrick had told me not to come home before 1, because he wanted to sleep late (slut). I got home at 1:30, and Harry was all excited to see me. He sounded like a little piglet, and he was wagging his little tail. So cute. Patrick and I played Guitar Hero for awhile.
On Saturday, my dad and I went for a long run. It had been awhile since we'd gone on a long run, so I enjoyed it. My dad also told stories of when he used to live in NYC. My dad has the best stories, and I love to hear them. I like hearing about what kind of people my parents were before they actually became my parents. I have to say that my dad's stories are way more entertaining than my own. Then we went out to eat with Terry and that was fun.
My mom and I went shopping at Target and Payless. I bought a new pair of patent leather ballerina flats at Payless since my others were getting so old. I have converted my mother to flats, so she bought some as well. Then we went online shopping, which is a bad idea. I really, really want this sweater from Victoria's Secret:
I used to wear long sweaters in high school, but they were nowhere near as amazing as this one. But unfortunately it is out of my price range. I think I will save up and it can be a Thanksgiving gift to myself, or something.
I did buy this cardigan, on sale, at New York and Company:
Other than that, I just ate way more candy and chocolate than I should, watched a lot of movies, and went to bed too late. In other words, an enjoyable break. I was so exhausted driving back yesterday, and I was equally tired today at work. I didn't go to dancing lessons today just because I too worn out. This weekend I had some dizzy spells and felt very tired, so I don't know if I'm coming down with something, or it's just an accumulation of a lack of sleep and dehydration. I am taking a workshop this Saturday and I might, might, might be taking a belly-dancing class this month, so I don't need to be spending too much money on lessons, anyway.
Tomorrow is already Wednesday! Yeep. I am going to go shower and *hopefully* be asleep earlier tonight.
I've been absent from this thing for a couple of days. Let's see. I left work early on Friday. I had extra time and used a bit of my vacation time. It was so worth it. I didn't really have anything to work on and I was feeling ADD anyway. I went home this weekend since it was my little godsister's birthday party. The party itself sucked (not because of the kids but the people there), but I had so much fun playing with my godsister and her brothers. She has gotten so big and pretty, I can't believe that she's already 3! I remember sitting in the hospital while they were being born (yes, "they," she's a quadruplet). The best part is that she was smiling and laughing the whole time. She was such a serious little baby, so I adore seeing her laughter.
I finally saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off this weekend. I really liked it. I think the more accurate title is "Ferris Bueller is a Douche." It was funny seeing Matthew Broderick playing that role because I always see him in these aw-shucks, nice guy kind of roles, but he pulled it off.
I drove back yesterday, arrived at 6, slept for an hour and a half, and went salsa dancing. Dancing was fun. Salsa is still hard but now it's a challenge and I'm determined to learn it well. I had only one unenjoyable dance, in which I danced meringue with a total prick. Right away, he was expecting me to grind up on him. I'm really not into that, especially if I don't know you or have never danced with you before, and especially if you're expecting it. Most of the couples on the floor weren't, either. But I could tell he was getting annoyed that I refused. Anyway, then at one point he had my hands clasped and was all, "Give me more strength." So I shoved his hands away instead of the ~gentle push~ he was expecting. "Oh, not that much strength." Then he wanted me to do this one weird move, and I told him no. I am usually open to new moves, but not for this guy. Thankfully, the song was not a long one. I noticed he left after our dance. Maybe I scared him off.
The run today was good. We did relays, which both sucked and were really beneficial. We did four 700's. The weather was unusually cool today. It was at least in the 70's. "I'm so glad it's winter," my running coach joked. "I'm going to put up my Christmas tree when I go home."
Well I need to read my new issue of In Style before bed. Good night!
This weekend was wonderfully lazy. I got to watch some movies. I don't watch movies very often, so when I do, it's kind of noteworthy. I have seen the following movies in the past month:
- Thelma and Louise. I liked this a lot. I watched it the day before I left for my northwest Texas trip, and my mom called Kim and me "Thelma and Louise," which was funny. Brad Pitt was yummy in this movie, which is a big deal for me to say; I didn't find him very attractive until Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which I watched yesterday for like the fifth time).
- Bring It On 2 and 3. DON'T JUDGE ME. (The third one was better.)
- The Dark Knight. Already discussed in previous entry.
- The Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal. This was a pretty decent Lifetime movie. Those actresses playing the cheerleaders did their job well, because by the end of the movie I felt like slapping all those bitches across the face.
- Anger Management. I'm a fan of stupid Adam Sandler movies, but this one sucked.
- Atonement. This movie was okay, but it wasn't as good as everyone said it was. It would have been better if it hadn't dragged so much after Robbie goes to war. I think the director put more effort into the cinematography than the actual story. Ooo Kiera's dress in that movie was marvelous, though.
I wish I had an excuse to traipse around in something like that every day.
I also did some shopping this weekend...very proud of myself because I could have spent a lot more money, but I was mature and my brain kept on screaming, "BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET" when it saw the original pile of clothes I was trying on. So I only bought one top (on sale for $12, natch) and my foundation.
I went salsa dancing yesterday. It was much more fun than last week's session. The amazing dancer was there, and this time he proceeded to elbow me in the forehead by accident. He was very apologetic and wondering why I wasn't in pain, because apparently his elbow was? But falling and smacking your head on concrete, like I did when I was twelve, redefines the idea of pain from hitting your head. I also met a fellow Neapolitan there who is visiting the city for a week. Random! I just knew he was from Naples the way he pronounced my name ("Jenny-fehrr.") Just like my relatives do. So we talked for a little while (in English, I was too shy to bust out my rusty conversational Italian). I finally made it back here around 12.
Work was pretty good today. I'm getting an interesting part of the project to work on that will require me to remember some of my statistics. I'm looking forward to the math, nerdily enough...I don't use as much math on the job as some may think.
The run was good today. 1500, 700, and 300 m intervals that I did at a decent pace. Then I did a mile cool down with Andi, who's like my de facto running coach (she's a good runner). Someone brought popsicles too-what a great treat! It was kind of embarrassing because one of the guys there, who knows that I dance, asked to see the basic salsa steps and I COMPLETELY BLANKED OUT ON WHAT IT WAS. Like even now, I can't remember what it is. A+, JEN. A+. Damn it, if he had asked to see swing or Lindy I would have been good. I will conquer you yet, salsa.
Okay, I need to wind down because I want to head to bed earlier than I did last night (cough cough, 1 o'clock). Plus, I'm attending my Lindy class tomorrow downtown after work, so I need to be well-rested :) Have a good night, everyone.
