April Showers a.k.a. I forgot about hail

"What's your favorite thing about spring?" That was our introductory, get-to-know-you icebreaker in class on Sunday. I think about half the people in class said they loved thunderstorms most of all. At first I was tempted to agree. I do love those huge claps of thunder. I surely like those flashes of lightning that illuminate the sky. Even tornadoes have that excitement factor, if you don't mind your property being destroyed by a whirling cyclone. However, as I lay in my bed Friday night, looking up at the skylight - completely unable to see because I'd taken off my glasses - I heard another sound amidst the thunder and rain. It sounded like popcorn on my roof. Oh yeah, that other part of storms...hail. What the hail. In Oklahoma (as in other places, no doubt) they measure hail in terms of sports things. Golf ball-sized, baseball-sized. Doesn't matter, no one wants any sort of spherical hard thing pelting their cars from the sky. I was so happy listening to the rain that night until I heard that popcorn sound and thought, "oh no, my poor car." That's the part of a storm I can do without, athankyouverymuch. Oh well. I'm back in Oklahoma and that's what I get.

Happy Easter Monday, by the way. I'm celebrating this day by blogging and looking out at the rain falling on the pond in the backyard of my work. Pretty soothing. And by soothing I mean makes-me-want-to-nap.

Where did the time go, by the way? How have I been in Tulsa THREE WHOLE MONTHS as of today? Happy monthiversary to me. I now shall tell you of my weekend. I painted. A lot. My third monthiversary was commemorated in latex paint. That is, I spent a good portion of the weekend painting walls and ceilings and ruining a pair of jeans and getting a big splotch of paint on my hair since I leaned into a freshly painted wall without thinking. Proof:




I helped a friend paint her bedroom, and I helped my church paint someone's house. The latter location is where I picked up the hair paint. And some poison ivy. I blame the shockingly friendly dogs who no doubt frolicked in a poison ivy patch before jumping all over me. Ah, spring.

You know what else is happening this year? My 10 year high school reunion. I am shocked at my own age. I don't feel like I've been out of high school 10 years. Well, sometimes I don't. But apparently I've reached that age. 28. I'm not one to fear getting older. I relish it. Even so, I still have the ability to "feel old". Quit rolling your eyes, people older than I. You know you were there once. Empathize. So yeah, I have that to look forward to in three weeks - catching up with former schoolmates and explaining to everyone what exactly has happened in my life in the last decade. Being a decade older than high school means that my wedding attendance schedule has been whittled down to just a handful a summer, and that my baby shower attendance schedule has ratcheted up exponentially in the past year or so. Eh, works for me. Shopping for babies is much more fun than shopping for adults. Plus, I can't offer to babysit at wedding showers. People look at me weird. Now I give a babysitting coupon book and recipients get emotionally overwhelmed with my generosity and start crying and hug me. Okay, that's a lie, but my offers to babysit are well received when there are babies to sit. Shhhh.

I think now I've been in Tulsa long enough to have finished "settling in." Besides the fact that I really do need to sift through my storage unit and get out some useful items, I'm pretty well set at the 'rents house. I'm slowly but surely learning how to do my job properly, and I've had that first round of friend reunions. Now I'm getting into the routine mode and figuring out what new activities I might have time for...I'm keeping those violin lessons on hold. I did renew my gym membership so I can hate myself for wasting money again. Just kidding. I'm actually using it. But good grief, it sure makes a difference in my fitness when I'm not walking to and from the metro daily. Can we install a metro station about a mile from my house so I can get my accidental workouts everyday, please? Thanks.

I'm done rambling for now. See ya.

Bucket List

Hello, faithful readers. Spring approacheth, no?! It's been rainy and dreary here the past few days, so you know it's about to be Spring. I could do without the rain, but I'm happy about the seasonal change.

I've been way too productive lately and very homemaker-y, and it has really worn me out. This weekend was the first of nine that my roommates and I will spend without one of our own, Roomie K. She is medical missioning abroad for two months and has left us all to our own devices. I am determined not to be a hermit during her absence. I want to have something to show for these two months...perhaps there will be a show-and-tell presentation upon her return. Therefore, Roomie B and I have made a Bucket List. No, not a life/death bucket list. More of a goals list for the time during Roomie K's absence. But I digress. I was talking about my extraordinary productivity this weekend. Let me explain.

My house was a mess. Parts of it are still a mess. And I have some greatly anticipated company arriving this week, so a messy house is NOT okay with me. I chose to use this first weekend of the "Bucket List Era" as a semi-spring cleaning weekend. I did all my laundry, I cleaned the trickiest parts of the house [read: bathroom, kitchen, another bathroom], I went grocery shopping by myself for the first time in years and I cooked two meals for the week. WHAT?! This is not me. Usually I collaborate with Roomie K on the cooking and she comes up with all the meal ideas, but without her I did not flounder. And I'm impressed with Me. (No, not "myself". Me.) I made my first solo lasagna. That's right! Please don't judge me for the fact that I overcooked it by about a half hour. I forgot it was in the oven, okay! I was watching some TV and really just lost track of time. But I have a frozen lasagna ready for the weekend (that hopefully isn't ruined) and I'm quite pleased with myself. I also made some yummy Italian sausage/spinach/shell pasta soup for the next couple days. This weekend I also caught up on some TV episodes I'd missed, did a little reading, and caught up on some correspondence. PRODUCTIVE MUCH?!

Okay, so back to the Bucket List. Here are my main goals:

• Go to the gym regularly
• Drink more water
• Be social and not hermit-ish whilst Roomie K is gone
• Try new things around the city with Roomie B (i.e. restaurants, concert/sporting events, dancing, etc.)
• Eat nutritiously

I also need to practice the Borodin Quartet No. 2 since I'm supposed to be playing it with a chamber group in two weeks and I haven't even looked at the music. Okay, I looked at it. But have a I practiced it? Nope!

Now, my gym goal is nothing new and I've been mostly good about keeping it...with the exception of the past month. Oops. However, without my normal gym buddy around, I'm really going to have to make an effort to go. Cause let me tell you, the gym is a 20 minute walk from my house and once I get home after work I do NOT want to go out again. Plus, street parking is sparse in the general gym area and even walking home to drive to the gym takes (mostly mental) effort. Sooooo, new plan. I'm going to bring my gym bag to work with me during the week so that after I get off the metro in my neighborhood I can go straight to the gym and then walk home. Ugh, and double UGH! Keep in mind, this means I have to bring two bags on the metro and that is just pure awkward. Today was my first day of this new experiment and I was so that awkward girl with two bags. They kept falling down around my feet and I'd have to bend over to move them every time someone wanted to get past me. I couldn't hold them on my shoulders because, let's face it, that's just inconsiderate of the other riders. I can't stand it when people with their big shoulder bags and backpacks insist on keeping said bags on their shoulders and/or backs. That makes getting in the metro car during rush hour much more difficult. Keep the bags at your feet, peeps! Much easier and then I don't have to worry about a bag banging me in the face when I'm sitting down and you whip around really quickly to check which metro stop we've reached. Mmmmmkaythanksbye.

I would also like to note that it is very cumbersome to walk in the rain with two bags and an umbrella, especially when one bag is weighed down by a hefty coin bag. Yes, I have to stop at the bank and convert all my saved-up coins to bills. Gotta get me some spending money for the weekend, y'all!

So I'll let you know how the Bucket List goes. It's only Day 4. I have plenty of time...

April Showers

It has been raining and a half around this gin joint. Whew! It is a soggy mess out there and I don't enjoy walking in it. But you know what they say, April showers...make you want to sleep all day long and reread Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and drink hot tea and maybe watch a movie or two and yes definitely be in your pajamas all day because it's just pointless to get dressed for an awesome day of laying around. Yes, they say that. Okay, I suppose "May flowers" are bandied about somewhere in that whole mix. I'll tell you what, though, April has some pretty flowers of its own. For those of you not in DC the past couple weeks, you missed the Cherry Blossom Festival and the budding of all things green. The scraggly brown winter look is gone, and all living things are parading in their spring finest. Flower fashion show, if you will.

I actually have spent half the month thus far away from DC. In fact, many of you might have seen me. That is, if you live in or around the Tulsa, OK area or the Providence, RI area. Anyone? Well, here's how things went down...

On April Fool's Day I left work early to catch the train from Union Station to BWI airport. I was flying home to hang out with the 'rents and catch Barron's big Senior piano recital. May I just say that I felt the tension leave my body in waves as I flew from the East to the Midwest? Kid you not, it is amazing how culturally different the sections of our country can be. Don't get me wrong, I love DC. Okay, maybe I just like it as more than a friend at this point, but I do feel strongly about it. It's great. However, I have definitely felt myself closing in my personal bubble and losing my patience piece by piece the longer I'm here. I haven't lost my humanity all together (let's hope) but that open friendly thing that I possessed when I moved here has morphed a little bit into a more reserved could-be-friendly-if-you-seem-nice-but-don't-act-like-a-tourist-or-I'll-judge-you thing. Anyway, on the way to Tulsa I had a layover in some Midwest city, maybe St. Louis. As soon as I stepped off the plane in that airport I could feel the difference. Little girls were hugging soldiers they didn't know and "God Bless"-ing them and taking pictures with them. People were just talking to each other and laughing - they didn't even know each other! In DC almost everyone my age has his/her iPod ear buds clamped tightly in and his/her eyes cast down in public. At that airport people were just smiling cause it felt good. YES! That's what I like, people! I was like that outsider that just smiles at the people talking and stands just a little out of the circle but almost pretends she's part of it. My laughing airport comrades didn't mind. They smiled at me and continued talking about fighter jets with other smiling strangers. It was beautiful.

And Tulsa, oh Tulsa. My home sweet home. How I missed thee. It's so great to be home, but also so frustrating. I want to give everyone I know serious quality time when I'm home for a visit, but I never have time to do and see as much as I want. I suppose I'd just have to move back home to make that happen. (I can hear a few prayers going up to God for just that right now, MOM. hee hee). Anyhoozen, thanks to Barron's recital, I got an even more inclusive Tulsa reunion than I'd imagined possible. And seeing the family wasn't too shabby, either. Good people.
(Disclaimer: I didn't get pictures with all my dear friends and family, which I deeply regret.) So Barron rocked the house on Saturday night. Well, he also rocked it on Friday afternoon. Mom and I headed up to OU for the awards ceremony for special smarties, and Barron cleaned house a little bit. However, I will not say more because as his sister I must keep him humble at all times (clapclapclapclapclap!). It's always fun to see people you care about excel at something they care about, and everyone at the recital was proud of that lil' tyke. Good job, B!

So, next on the list of Gillian's Travels was Providence, RI. I went there on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution to learn all I could about gift processing and keeping alumni and donor records. Well, I'd never been to a conference before and I generally enjoyed this one. First off, I knew a lot more about the subject that I thought I would. I've only been in gift processing full time for less than a year (10ish months), so I thought I'd be less educated than other attendees on the rules and best practices for doing gift entry and keeping donor records. Luckily, I have a boss who's taught me so much about the subject that I felt like I knew more than a lot of my peers, some of whom have been doing this longer than I have. It's nothing juicy - IRS regulations and standards for gift acceptance and crediting donors, etc. - but it's all very important to the job of a gift processor. It was great to meet other people in my profession and hear the triumphs and struggles they had at their jobs. I'm not much for networking. That is, I haven't done it very much in my career...yet. However, it was pretty easy to talk with others who knew what I was going through and had a lot of the same issues I do at my job. Plus, it gave me some ideas about what I want my job to look like in the future. Plus-plus, let's face it, I had a per diem from work so I enjoyed some good meals, saw a wee bit of the city on my walks to the downtown mall :), had a sweet hotel room with a glorious TV set and the conference was in the same hotel where I was staying. I couldn't ask for more.

So now I'm back home. DC home, that is. Work is keeping me busy, I'm done with orchestra for the remainder of the season, I'm doing pilates once a week and it's kicking me bum, matey. And Friday my roommates and I are having a Spring Cleaning Party plus pizza and a movie. Who can resist that! Oh, Easter! Easter was a delight. Church was great, I helped out with the little kiddies (some of whom tried my patience quite frequently) and I ate Easter dinner with my roommate's family and some of their close friends. All in all, lovely.

It's funny - it seems like just yesterday I was so excited that spring was here and now it feels like summer is rushing toward me at a furious pace. I know there's still much of spring left to go, but how did it get to be mid-April already??? Where did the time go?! Oh well, let it fly. I laugh in it's face and continue to wish for long naps and Saturdays.

It Might As Well Be Spring

"I'm as restless as a willow in a wind storm. I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a striiiiiing!" Ah, State Fair. Haven't seen it in a hot minute. Nonetheless, the lyrics hold true. Who's with me? Would spring just get here already?! No, don't tell me that it'll soon be hot and I'll be wishing for cooler temperatures blah blah blah. I won't be. I'm ready for jacket-less weather and sunny evenings. I want to sit on my front porch after work and wave to passers-by as they walk past 925.

Last weekend was divine. Temperatures were in the mid-70s and all of DC was abuzz. That's one thing about this place - everyone and their dog is super active. I've never seen so many runners and play-in-the-parkers in my life. It's rubbing off on me a little, I must admit. Example: Saturday morning my roommate and I woke up at 9 (I know, I was shocked, too) to go run around the Tidal Basin in DC. The cherry blossoms aren't out yet, but it was nice and the promise of spring was in the air. Plus, it was so cool to run past the FDR memorial, the Jefferson memorial, the George Mason (who is that exactly?) memorial and all the ducks in the water. People were out playing soccer, flag football, ultimate frisbee and generally just running around. I saw bikers, rollerbladers, those couples who run with their streamlined running strollers, and even some people in suits. In a fit of insanity I said to Kristen, "We should do this every Saturday!" In a fit of even greater insanity she said, "Yeah!" Oh great.

Today the high is 50 degrees, and that saddens me greatly. Better than it was two weeks ago, sure, but not better than it was two days ago. Granted, I know that the real winter is over. Technically it's not over till March 20th, but we had that one "big" winter snow last week and now things will only get less snowy from here. No, I didn't get a snow day. I did get a 2 hour delayed arrival, but that's not as exciting as it sounds. It means I got 2 extra hours of sleep but still had to get up and trudge through 4 inches of snow to reach the metro station. Unpleasant, to say the least.

You know what I realized? I'll tell you. Winter is depressing. No, wait, hear me out. There are some real highlights: Christmas, New Year's (debatable), MLK day, my birthday and President's Day (now that I get government holidays). But other than that...nada. It's cold, it's often wet, it's dark, and it's just downright depressing. I'm not just spit balling here, either. It's a sociological thing. It's especially sad when you're spending your first real world winter away from home. Boo! (I wasn't trying to startle you, I was just expressing my displeasure with the situation.) Anyway, I think it's pretty funny that I realized most of the dispiritedness I've been feeling over the past couple months can be 99% attributed to the season. Weird, right?

No more, though. Now I am so excited and spirits are high. I've already made a list of things to do once the weather gets good enough. I'm pumped about the spring and summer and all the fun stuff I'll get to do. For example, as a celebration of spring and the joy I feel at the offing of it, my brother will perform a few well chosen pieces on the piano at his university. Some may call it a "senior recital," but I know the truth. It's a "Happy Spring, Gillian!" concert. Barron, I accept. That will be my first celebration - attending the recital in April. After that, who knows? This will be my first spring in DC and I know there is a lot going on here during those months. (Hmmm, I wonder if there's a cherry blossom festival in Japan, too? Laurel, please confirm.) Interesting. Gotta say, I will miss going to the races in Lexington. Keeneland was a blast last year. That's okay, new place, new things to do. I probably won't win as much money as I did last spring, but I can sacrifice. I wasn't a very good race better anyway. I'm told choosing a horse cause it's pretty isn't exactly scientific. Don't worry, I looked at the odds, too. I digress.

In other news, I can't keep up with all the books I have on hold at the library. Why do I do this? I think I'm out of things to read, so I put 9 books on hold and 4 of them come in at once. Then I have too much to read. Also, the latest season of "Dancing With The Stars" started last night so I'm a happy camper. I think there's a mouse in the house, so I'm counting on one of my roommates to take care of that business. Also, in all my excitement about spring there's one thing I can't seem to work up the will to do: spring cleaning. Oh, and I did my taxes all by myself. Cheers. So things are pretty much steady here. We've already discussed the weather. Other things...work is good. Home is good. Church is good. Miscellaneous items - good. Now all I need to do is get used to this spring forward time and I'll be golden. That's the latest here. Bye bye.