Being Petty.

(Warning, this post may only make sense to those working in Advertising)

I really hate when I care about things that don't matter, or things that I can't change. I just keep thinking about it, it festers and I get in a bad mood. It's really not good all around. What's my issue right now? Our conferences got "names" instead of just room numbers. My floor got bad bands. It's not that I just think they're bad bands, they're universally known as "bad bands." Nickelback, Hansen... no one wants to book a meeting in "Nickelback". Not when your options on other floors are "Beatles," "Dylan" or "Radiohead." I'm sure it's a Creative thinking he's being awfully funny, but he's making a lot of people mad. It's not just the names, its what they represent. Is my floor thought of as a worthless bands while others are timeless classics? I know you can never make everyone happy, but let's not intentionally make people mad.

At the same time I'm getting all worked up about this, I wonder why? At the end of the day does it really matter? No, it doesn't. I know it doesn't, but I can't help but read into it. If they're going to make fun of us, I'd hope they could at least be clever enough with it that we don't notice immediately. It also doesn't help that the "who we are" section on our websites features one female and several men. It just reminds me that I work in a boys club and it's not changing anytime soon.

This Monday isn't starting off as I had hoped it would.

Be Present.

At my yoga class today, the instructor started off the class telling us to stop dwelling on the past and future and just be present. I have a memory that doesn't forget and constantly dwells on the past and I'm also a planner thinking about the future. So I'm going to try to de-clutter my head and just be present. Be in the moment and not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow but just right now.

Soccer.

I've been playing soccer for a year since surgery. Last year when I started playing my knee hurt after every game. For awhile, I was beginning to wonder if it was worth it, but I kept at it. Now I feel good after a game and my knee doesn't hurt. We had our second game of the winter session today and I was playing better than I have in awhile. I was stealing the ball and making passes, I'd like to say it was because our team was a little better than the other team, but I wonder if I'm playing better because I'm improving. I stopped playing soccer when I was 12 to focus on dance. I was a decent player when I was a kid, but that was an all-girls team of rec soccer. When I started playing 6 years ago as an adult, I was out of practice and out of shape. I'm sort of amazed that I even kept playing, but I'm really glad I did. I really enjoy the camaraderie of a team sport. Of course, the better you are at something, the more enjoyable the activity usually is. So here's to improving and sticking through the times when it's not so easy. And also hoping we win a game soon. We've had two tie games, with no goals, this session. We need to score some goals, and perhaps I'll be the one to do it... Now that's crazy talk, I think I've gotten 3 goals in my entire 13 year soccer career. I'll just focus on feeling good and improving.

Weekend Calm.

Almost every weekend used to end with me trying to fit in all the housework on Sunday evening, typically after dinner. Laundry, dishes, cleaning. It was always too much to do and not enough time, but week after week I kept doing it. Adam would always make fun of me for my Sunday evening surge of energy. Tonight, I'm relaxing on the couch, enjoying a cup of coffee (decaf) while Adam is frantically trying to fix his headlight. He bought it yesterday afternoon, yet he waited until 9pm on Sunday to attempt to put it in, now of course, he's less than pleased with how the process is turning out. I have to say, I love my new Sunday routine and wonder how and why I spent so many years with my previous routine. Now that out our house has been decluttered, it's so much easier to keep clean and to maintain it. I didn't know if we would be able to maintain it, but we have, and it's so much easier than I thought it would be. I used to spend so much time just picking up the house that I barely had time to actually clean it. Now that its already picked up, I can easily clean. And I can get it all done before Sunday night and enjoy my evening.

Short week.

For the fact that is was a 4 day work week, it sure felt like a long week. I find 4 day work weeks tend to mean "cram 5 days worth of work into 4" which usually isn't fun, but it's 5pm on Friday, so that means I've survived. And I won $100 (split 4 ways) playing pull tabs at lunch today, so happy weekend to me!

2012, Let's Do This.

I've been thinking about a year end recap of 2011 for a couple of weeks now, but I still haven't quite figured out what I want to say. 2011 had some ups; awesome trips to Miami, NYC and Vegas, and downs; Adam getting laid off and Tom passing away. But we made it through, we survived. The fact that the more negative things happened near the end of the year makes it easy to say good riddance to 2011 and to want to welcome 2012 with open arms.

We are starting off 2012 with a decluttered organized house (yes, I'm still excited about that). It makes me feel like an adult, like an almost 30 year old. I'll turn 30 in just under 6 months. 5 months and 3 weeks... but who's counting? I've never been one to dwell on ages, but this one is hitting me a little harder than the other ones. But I'm excited for it. Two years ago, I read a comparison about how people act in their 20's vs. 30's. At the time, I laughed at the differences, but I can already see some of them emerging. Two years ago, I didn't want to miss a thing. Now, my time is more important than being at every event. I would prefer to foster quality friendships than keeping a larger circle of acquaintances. The older I get, the more I know and that's a great feeling. Overall, I want to think of 30 positively and not dwell on the fact that my 20's are almost over.

Turning 30 also signifies that I've been with Adam for 1/3 of my life. One Third! That sounds crazy, but I met him when I was 19 and started dating right after I turned 20. I was just reading a friend's blog and she stated that she thinks people should get married close to 30. While I didn't, I do agree. It's hard to grow up and find out who you are all while sustaining a relationship or marriage. Marriage is dynamic and you need to find someone to grow with, or is at least patient with you while you figure it out. While I can't say how much one changes from 30 to 40, but from 20 to 30 it's a lot and it's difficult to balance it all. But it's all I know. Somedays I wonder what our life would be like if we met later, but I also know we wouldn't have the life we have now if we did. We wouldn't have the memories and the experiences, both good and bad, and they have helped shape who we are.

So, here's to 2012 and to the experiences and adventures that are in store for us. Happy New Year!

De-Cluttered.

Since my last post up until today, I've been cleaning and decluttering our house. It feels amazing. Adam will attest that I may have gotten a little obsessed with it over the last few days, but I'm also confident that he enjoys the results. It all started with two things: 1). My parents bought us a new dining room lamp and 2). Adam wanted to paint his office. For whatever reason, these two events set me into a mission to clean and declutter. My first mission was the baker's rack that I successfully removed from the dining room with only an $8 Ikea purchase. That led to some kitchen and dining room re-organization, but I was satisfied with that much until Adam told me his plans for the office. He was going to clean it out except for his desk, bookshelf and the clothes rack. I asked why he even needed a clothes rack to begin with and he responded that with the beer and records in his closet he didn't have anymore room.

Beer and records? Did I marry a teenager?

Needless to say, I saw that as a challenge and I wasn't going to be wrong. While Adam was sleeping, I organized all of his clothes and as I suspected, they did in fact fit in the closet and dresser- with some adjustments and donations of course. Now is probably a good time to mention the fact that we home brew, so we tend to have a lot of beer on hand. I actually didn't know where it was until Friday when Adam told me it was in his closet. After another round of kitchen organization, we have a place to store the beer and the empty bottles without it being an eye-sore.

On Wednesday of last week, I really wanted to get a new bookshelf, but after the donation of around 30 books, I don't need it. Instead, I bought storage containers for the basement and some picture frames. The baker's rack had become a default poster storage space, so without it, I needed to find a new place for the posters. Guess where they landed? The wall. Shocking, I know. After years of talking about getting frames, I went out and got some and hung them on the wall. I put 5 small photos in the kitchen and then 9 bigger posters in the office and bedroom. It feels so nice to display some more artwork around the house!! It's also nice to know that I can do it myself. With just a hammer, a level and some nails, I can hang up pictures, it's great to remind myself of what I'm capable of. Adam probably would have helped, but he was in the midst of computer surgery...

The end result of my few crazy days of cleaning, I finally feel like our house is a home. It's only been 6.5 years, but it feels like us. A couple of Adam's guitars are hung on the wall along with posters of our favorite bands and  few pictures I've taken. It's organized and everything has a place. (Well, almost... we still need to finish organizing the office...). I hated cleaning our house because it always took so long to pick everything up just to clean, where now, I should be able to just clean and not have to pick up nearly as much. We also donated 12 bags and 5 boxes to Arc's Value Village (on 66th and Penn if you want to purchase any of our donations), so our small house doesn't feel so cramped. Our dining room is actually started to feel big. With just two of us, I knew we should have enough room in our house, even though it is small, but it finally feels like we have enough room. It's such a great feeling to finally feel organized and calm at home. I love it.

Now that I'm back at work, let's see just see if we can maintain it. I hope we can.