P90X

Oh good grief. I'm sore.

Let's see here...we often find ourselves less than pleased with our physical form, right? "Oh if I could only change that [body part]." "Yeah, I should eat better." "Well it's the new year, hope I don't break that workout resolution." Blerg.

Well, friends, a couple months ago - in a fit of insanity, I might add - two of my roommates and I were trying on clothes at the mall. Well, one of us was. The other roomie and I were giving feedback to the third and chatting calmly about how annoying it is to try on clothes that don't fit like they used to. "Yeah, I really need to start working out more," someone says regretfully. "Oh, me too!" I might have chimed in. "I hate my muffin top!" another cries mournfully. Normally these conversations are harmless. They're almost standard for friends trying on clothes. Well what happened next changed the course of my Fall forever. "Have you heard of this thing called P90X" asked a roommate. I answered in the negative. Ha! Now I know. Oh now I know.

After that shopping trip those two ladies and I decided that the three of us would purchase the P90X workout/nutrition packet and start getting our bodies in shape. A friend of ours had been doing the same program, so we borrowed the materials to see what we were getting ourselves into. Yipes! I tried to back out no fewer than three times in the hour we were looking at these books. It looked way too hard core. Sure, the before and after pictures were impressive. Yes, I knew that it would ultimately be a good thing for me. But no, I did not want to throw out my mac and cheese and start eating soy nuts! NO! Needless to say (which is weird, cause I'm saying it), I caved. My roommates convinced me that accountability is better in numbers. If we didn't do it together, we wouldn't do it at all. Bah humbug.

It is now day 5 of P90X and all my muscles ache. Why oh why did I commit to something so good for me??? Fool of a Took. Anyhoo, it's happening. And to tell you the truth, it's kind of exciting. I lied. It's not exciting. It's encouraging. There is a workout video for 6 days of the week. (I'm taking off a couple days to go the beach this weekend...oops.) And there is a whole nutrition book full of different types of food and recipes for eating the right stuff. Let me tell you, the food part isn't as bad as I thought. Ish. My roommate, Kristen, and I went grocery shopping and have been having breakfasts of egg white scrambles and turkey bacon mcmuffins. (Yes, Barron, I will call it a McMuffin despite the fact that I didn't make it in a McDonald's kitchen.) We've been having dinners of roast pepper soup and grilled steak salad and marinated chicken and steamed veggies. I've been snacking on turkey jerky and yogurt and, of course, soy nuts. It's not half bad. Plus, it really really helps that I have someone to help hold me accountable for the workouts and food intake.

Okay, honestly this thing is way too hardcore for my lazy sensibilities. It's only day 5 and I have 85 more days of this nonsense. (If you haven't calculated already, that means I'm done before Thanksgiving. God bless good timing!) But I committed and I'm doing it. And when I laugh I feel muscles I forgot existed. And when Tony Horton asks me to do 8 more reps of blah blah blah I want to scream. But they tell me it's worth it. And they're right, I suppose. But, dear reader, feel for me. Pray for me. Give me a back rub, for crying out loud. This is an exercise in discipline and I will succeed!

Oh, and don't ask me about my progress. That just puts more pressure on me to stick this thing out. Blerg.

P.S. And you thought I'd put a picture of myself on this post. HA!

Hanging With the Ryans

Blood is thicker than water. Ew, that's just weird. Well, this past week I was blessed to get not one but two opportunities to spend time with the Ryan/Trinidadian side of my family tree.

Family time part 1 - In the first picture, you'll see my dad's niece, Karenmay, and her children Zane, Kariel, and Jariel. Before last Thursday, I hadn't seen this family since my 2001 trip to Trinidad. Last I remember, I was giving these kids piggy back rides, having tickle fights with them and chasing them around the house. Now the oldest one (Zane) is more than half my age. Sheesh. When did I stop being the kid and start being the grown up that says, "Last time I saw you, little Bobby, you were knee high to a grasshopper!" (Please reread this aloud whilst holding the small of your bag, smacking your gums and leaning on a virtual cane. Why? Because that's how I intended it.)

These Ryans were in DC for a day so the boys could get a surprise visit to the National Air and Space Museum. Karenmay called me up and asked if I could meet them on the Mall, and I was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them for very long. They had to catch that Chinatown bus back to the Big Apple. But I did get to hang out with them for a few minutes, and it was totally worth it. It was so much fun to hear my little cousins rib each other in their cool Trinidadian accents. I can't mimic that one at all. Believe me, I've tried. And they've laughed. They've all laughed!


Family time part 2 came this past Saturday. My dad's first cousin Audra (not pictured) lives in Hay Market, VA, with her husband and kids about 50 minutes from my house in Arlington. Sweet miracle of miracles, three of her siblings were going to be at her house that night and I was invited to come hang out. That was so much fun! First of all, it's nice to know that my love of the Olympics comes honestly - everyone of us was cheering on the marathon runners as they stumbled through the last 6 miles of their race. (Can you have a dishonest love of the Olympics, though? Seems that would just be sacrilegious.) Anyhoo, I got to hang out with Patti (to my right) and her mom Aunt Eulah (far right...and Dad, correct me if I've spelled that incorrectly). Oh, and second of all I got to eat some great Caribbean food. Yum! I need to learn how to cook that goodness. That night I also got to hang out with my second cousins Elliott and Jordan. Again, cousins I hadn't seen since they were babies. It's so weird to be the one that kids don't remember now. And I can just hear my dad laughing at me - yes, Pops, it's a delight to age :).

It's so cool to get to spend some time with relatives that I haven't seen in years and listen to (and try to understand) their Trini accents. I'm going back to the Motherland ASAP and I will study the socks off that way of speech. Then I will never speak like an American again. Ever. I'll use words like "vex" all the time and say "and so" at the end of my sentences. Oh, and the family says hi to everyone. And they want you to come visit, too.

In related news, I found out not half an hour ago that my beloved Wright family will be driving my way in about a month. Aunt Karin and Uncle Keith, I'm going to show you a good time! Woot woot.

In completely unrelated news, I auditioned for the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic community orchestra on Saturday before I headed out to Hay Market, and I am pleased to announce that I'm the newest member, I think, of that group of musicians. Yes! I'm back in an orchestra and so excited about it. The past two weeks I've been working up the first movement of the Bruch g minor violin concerto so I could wow the music director at my audition. Though I didn't play well enough to wow anyone (except maybe for his greyhound, Grace, who slept through it all at my feet), he was pleased with my playing and said I was in like flin. So, starting Sunday the 7th of next month I will be rehearsing. It feels so good to play again. So there you have it. That's the news for now. I'll be back soon with more exciting (not really) details about my life in DC.

Cheers!

My Summer with the Brother

Greetings, blog readers. I sit here, watching the Olympians compete in track and field events. As some of you might be aware, I absolutely love the Olympics. You know those "Go World" commercials? The ones where Morgan Freeman narrates great Olympic moments and such? Well, every time I see those commercials I tear up. I kid you not. They get me every time. But this is not the point of my post. I want to tell you about how my potentially scariest first summer in the big city turned into one of the happiest summers in the big city. It's been my best DC summer yet (she says in a slightly facetious tone)!

I do love a good adventure, but I wasn't looking forward to moving to DC by myself. I didn't know where anything was. I didn't know where I wanted to live. I didn't really know anyone here. All these worries dissolved into a million tiny sparkles of joy when my brother said he would start his DC summer early by helping me move there mid-May. He was going to end up in the city anyway, since he had the I4RC to attend (see link at right for his DC blog), so he came to Lexington with me and helped me pack for my move. We loaded up the Uhaul and drove to Arlington, VA on a sunny Saturday in May. We sang camp songs, played car games, philosophized about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. We made plans for hanging out during the summer. We learned how to properly drive the Uhaul - blech.

We ended up in Arlington at the home of some friends who had kindly agreed to let me stay with them during the summer until I found a more permanent place to live. I didn't have to start my new job until the day after Memorial Day, so Barron and I had about two weeks to play. And play we did. We watched entire seasons of Arrested Development, Psych and 30 Rock. We saw a few movies. We met up with old friends and made new ones. We sight saw. In fact, Barron introduced me to my favorite museum - the National Gallery of Art. (Don't tell the Smithsonian. They don't own it.) What is my favorite feature of the art gallery, you ask? I'll tell you. The moving sidewalk that connects the East and West wings of the gallery. Oh, sure, the Monets and the Renoirs are breathtaking. But they don't cushion your weary feet. They don't facilitate hops and skips and casual bouncing as passers by laugh in your face and you laugh back, gleeful in your new found youth. But I digress. Back to the sight seeing. Barron and I explored Eastern Market, Georgetown, Chinatown, the Mall, the Barnes & Noble on 12th street, every Cosi in the area, and ESPN Zone. We shopped, we ate, we laughed, we slept in, we called Laurel. And it was good.

Watching soccer is one of the Ryans' favorite past times, and Barron and I sure did a lot of that this summer. I mean, with the Euro Cup on, how could we not? We also got the opportunity to go see our first MLS match between DC United and San Jose Earthquakes. That was such fun.

Now, you might be wondering how things worked out once Barron started his summer program and internship. I didn't get to see him everyday at that point, but we still hung out as often as possible and kept the good times rolling. I joined him and his I4RC buddies to play several rounds of Mafia on a few occasions. We had dinner together at least once a week. In short, I got to hang out with my brother all summer and it was great.

I can't imagine this summer without him here. He was such a blessing in my move and helping me figure out my way around the city. He showed me how to get a SmarTrip card for the metro. He helped me map my route between where I lived and where I worked. He helped me during my second move (more on that at a later date). I got to grow accustomed to life here without being overwhelmed by everything. Barron was with me every step of the way. So I think he set a good precedent for family in DC. With some good family/friend visitations during the next year (hint hint), the only thing fitting enough to round out the year is to have Laurel move here next summer when she gets home from Japan :). What? You didn't see that coming? Well, neither did she. I've just declared it to be so, and so it shalt be.

So that's my summer with the brother in a nutshell. I don't do very well when I don't get to see my family for a while, and this was a really big summer for the Ryans, what with me moving the farthest away I've ever been and Laurel moving the farthest away anyone's ever been. Barron helped make the transition so much smoother. Good summer, people. Good summer.

So there you have it. Have any questions? Make a comment and I'll try to answer them in another post. I hope you're enjoying the Olympics as much as I am. Take some time to enjoy a little healthy competition as people from so many nations coexist. It's a beautiful thing. Have a great week!

- This picture is of Barron and me in Eastern Market (home to one of the greatest bookstores ever) after church one Sunday. We were impressed with the picturesqueness of the street. Yes, that's a word.

- Scenes from future posts: the big move, my first DC visitors, life in the house.

City Girl

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in a big city. Public transportation was foreign to me for most of my life. Naturally, in the Midwest (woot woot) and the South, most cities are so spread out and sprawling that cars are the only practical transportation option. Hmmm...were I ever to return to those fair parts of the country, I would invest in a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang type vehicle - getting around would be SO much easier.

Change has come, good people! The city embraces me, and therefore I embrace the city! I travel to work everyday via the Metro system, and I am a fan. Sure, people invade my personal bubble. Yes, many young whipper snappers listen to their iPods so loudly through their earphones that I can practically host a rave in the train. Okay, so not everyone gets the concept that you are supposed to move to the center of the car so customers can enter the train and have room to stand comfortably. Nonetheless, it is nice to pay my $2.00 each way (and my work subsidizes this, by the way) and not have to deal with DC traffic and parking. I walk about 10 minutes from my super awesome house to the closest metro stop (Clarendon). I ride the rail for about 18-20 minutes, and I exit the metro at the Smithsonian stop on the National Mall. Orange line all the way, baby.

Here's the problem with living and working in the city. I have no time. Everyone is in such a hurry at every moment and I've followed suit. I walk faster, I listen to my iPod so I can pretend no one else is around, and I bury my head in my Express newspaper in the mornings so I don't have to look at anyone else. I know, right? What happened to, "Hi, neighbor!" What happened to a friendly smile at each person you pass? I tried that for the first two weeks. Then I stopped. People are nice here, mind you. A lovely white-bearded gentleman offered me a seat on the metro today when one opened up, for example. Few folks I've encountered are hostile, but people disconnect, and it's sometimes difficult to break that barrier.

So have I become a city snob? Well....maybe a little bit. I have less patience for the large tourist groups in their matching t-shirts, hats and vests. You know why? Because they don't all understand that on the escalator one is supposed to stand on the right and walk on the left. Now that I'm all citied out, I walk-walk-walk and I just don't have the time to stand around on escalators all day. (Sense the facetious tone.) The Smithsonian metro stop is the worst. The entrance/exit I use is right on the mall, so that's where all the tourists surface to see the sights. Oh how quickly I developed a city attitude. Yet, how I still enjoy playing tourist myself. I'll expound on my tourist trysts in another post, but I can't judge other well-meaning sight seers when I love touring the city just as much as the next person.

In conclusion, I miss the city life I'm used to. The one in which people let each other merge on the highway. Where we often wave and smile to strangers when we pass them on neighborhood roads. Where I know where I'm going and don't get lost every two seconds. Ah, Tulsa, how I miss thee. But I like this city life. There's so much excitement here. There's always something going on and something new to see. DC is a great place for those seeking adventure. I guess that means I fit right in.

- Scenes from future "Gilli In The Real World" posts: the living situation, sightseeing in the city and my summer with the brother. Stay tuned!

- P.S. Thanks to Barron for this awesome shot of the city from the Key Bridge over the Potomac River.

What I Do Here...

So this is where I work. Aren't I just the luckiest gal? It's the Smithsonian Castle, and it's right smack in the center of the National Mall. As I walk out the front door everyday on my way home, I look to my right and see the Capitol building, then I look to my left and start walking towards the Washington Monument (mainly because that's the direction of my metro stop.) I get the best view, and I haven't tired of it yet.

As for what I do in that glorious building...well, that won't take much explaining. I am the most recent addition to the Gift Registrar team in the central development office of the Smithsonian Institution (a.k.a. SI). I am known to some as Assistant Gift Registrar - Finance. To most others I'm known as, hey-Amy's-not-here-so-I-guess-I-can-ask-you-this-question. Amy's my boss, by the way. The current Gift Registrar team consists of the head GR, and two Asst. GR's. We are responsible for recording all contributions to all our museums and research centers in the central database. So basically I enter gifts into the system. I sit in my cubicle, plug in my iPod (yes, I said "plug in" because the poor thing's so old the battery doesn't stand alone anymore) and type away. I also help generate monthly reports and other exciting things like that. So there you have it.

Honestly, I really like my job. I'm learning a lot about what constitutes gifts and what the IRS will and will not accept as tax deductible contributions. There are so many regulations, I haven't begun to understand them all. This job is a great education for me, and I feel like I'm doing something productive for a great institution. Now is that job satisfaction or what???

So where is this job going to take me? Don't ask me questions I can't answer. I have no idea. But you and I know what I do now and that's an accomplishment in and of itself.

Tuning

Recently I decided that life without music is no life at all. I sat at my cubicle, registering gifts in the computer system, and I realized that my favorites (e.g. Coldplay and John Mayer) just weren't cutting it. I needed my Debussey, my Rimsky-Korsakov, my Tchaikovsky and my Ravel. Boy did I ever open Pandora's box. Every strain of the violin I heard on my "Classical" iPod playlist made me yearn to play. (Sorry to say I hadn't touched my violin in months, certainly not since I moved to DC.)

Thus motivated, it seemed postponing work to explore community orchestras was my only option. In my excitement I emailed three different groups to see if they were holding auditions for the coming season. In their excitement, one of them responded. And yes, I have an audition in three Saturdays. Yipes.

Of course, I hadn't been practicing in anticipation of an audition. No, no, no...I had just been daydreaming and not doing anything practical at all. Today I set up the audition. Today I practiced for the first time since...well, since 2008 began. Needless to say, my violin was extremely out of tune. I pulled out my trusty tuner, flipped the switch to 440/A and - wait for it...nothing happened. The battery was dead. Well I certainly couldn't practice an untuned violin. What to do? I grabbed my cell phone, hit #2 speed dial and put it on speaker.

"Hello, this is Donald."
"Hi, Dad, how are you?"
[blah blah blah]
"Hey, Dad, my tuner's dead. Would you give me an A?"

Yes, good people, over speaker phone my father went to the piano and gave me the A I needed to tune my violin. Now THAT'S music for you.

On another note:
This blog provides me an opportunity to keep the people I love updated on my life in the big city, a.k.a. my life after higher education. I'm not the best at calling as often as I should or sending fun postcards of monuments and such, but I want to keep you in the know. I do not promise thrilling stories or entertaining adventures, but I do commit to letting you know what's up. As the last of the Ryan kids to blog I feel a bit like the resistant elder who can't quite handle the technology, but my siblings have set an excellent example. Check in on Laurel to see how she's faring in the land far away (entertaining adventures almost guaranteed). Click over to Barron's blog if you're feeling nostalgic about his summer here or want to reread a classic post. Then visit me. Snooze Fest 1999 it might be, but now you'll know the rest of the story.