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By kilax, August 29, 2008 5:49 am

Why do you blog, or, why do you read blogs?

Beth just wrote a “Why I Blog” post (I love it when people write on this topic!). It reminded me of a post I wrote about the same topic a long time ago, but with a somewhat different answer.

Like Beth, I do blog to meet new people. That is one of the biggest perks! I love “knowing” people from all over the country, and even getting to meet some of them.

But that is not solely why I blog. It started as a way to keep in touch with friends and family, but now it’s more than that, at least for me.

Now it’s a place for my voice. It’s a place for me to say whatever the hell I want and not have to think twice about it OR worry about being interrupted. I waste so much time in the real world trying not to offend people OR letting them do all the talking, I feel like I should have one place where I can just be myself.

I just have to keep remembering that.

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By kilax, August 27, 2008 5:48 am

Did you hear about the Chicago-area woman who held a “Battle of the Bridesmaids” 5K to decide on the bridesmaids for her wedding? (Article here)

The race, and her wedding, were both last Saturday. Seventy-five people (men and women) showed up for the race. The top three female finishers got to be bridesmaids – they were fitted for their dresses on the spot. Surprisingly, the bride knew the three women from other races.

My two thoughts were: Why would this woman want strangers in her wedding party? and Why would a woman want to be a bridesmaids in a stranger’s wedding? But hey, to each their own! It was an interesting story.

Steven and I signed up for a 5K in September – but we don’t have to be in a stranger’s wedding if we place in one of the top three spots (ha!).

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By kilax, August 26, 2008 1:50 pm

Yesterday was my sister Christina’s nineteenth birthday AND her first day of class (Happy Birthday, right?!). [She is applying to the interior design program this winter, so she is taking classes similar to the ones I took! Drafting! Elements of Design! Woo-hoo! Maybe someday we will work together…]

We took her skydiving for her birthday back in July, but Steven and I still sent her a gift – this “sisters” necklace. I bought one for myself as well.

Christina is the only sister I have, but she has a lot of other sisters – sorority sisters.

And here’s the part where I try to explain what it is like to be jealous of a bunch of girls that I have never even met.

I feel like I wasted most of our time growing up together, playing the part of the bitchy older sister (while she was perhaps playing the part of the bratty younger sister?). We’re only five years apart, but I never felt like we were even close to being in the same stage of our lives during those five years – until the last few years.

Now it’s like I’ve met this really cool person for the first time and I want to spend a lot of time with them, but I can’t – because they live in a different state than me.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve always loved my sister to death, and would do anything for her. There’s never been a huge rift between us, I just never felt a true sisterly bond with her. Not like this anyway.

Hence, why I am jealous of all of her sorority sisters – that get to live with her, and hang out with her, and share all their day-to-day adventures with her. While I am lucky if I even get to see her 10 times a year.

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By kilax, August 24, 2008 5:30 pm

Data just attacked my foot/ankle while I was playing the guitar (solo) on Rock Band.

Jeez, Data. Tell me how you really feel about the game.

Of course, I was too into the song to stop playing, but I did to yell at him. Now I have a long diagonal scratch that goes from my ankle to my foot.

I think the most I have even played Rock Band consecutively is for about an hour. When we are home enough to play for longer periods of time, we’re doing other things.

Which is fine with me. I don’t need to devote a ton of time to it. But Data gets so jealous when we turn it on. He sulks, and sits on the living room floor, far away from us, but so that we can still see him, with his back to us.

I guess he wouldn’t be too happy if I bought the Purr Pals game!

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By kilax, August 21, 2008 1:09 pm

We have monthly “birthday celebrations” in my office during the months that the staff has birthdays. The company orders treats and we all sit around in the conference room, chatting for about 30 minutes (or more!) while enjoying the treats. It’s actually a nice break, to just sit and chat with everyone. I think of it as a morale booster.

Sometimes the company orders individual treats, like drinks from Starbucks (bleh), and sometimes they order one big thing, like a coffee cake.

You may recall that I am on a “healthy lifestyle” quest. Whenever they order individual treats, I try to order something healthy or low in calories, like a fruit cup or a diet soda.

Today was the August celebration (duh) and our receptionist/secretary/all-star came up to me and said, “I’m going to order that cinnamon-cake thing from Corner Bakery. Do you want a fruit cup, since you are so being so good [healthy-eating wise]?”

She didn’t say it meanly – she was being nice. She noticed I’ve been watching what I eat, and actually asked me if I wanted an alternate item for the birthday celebration. I thought it was very nice that she provided that option for me, because some people are actually pretty mean when you are eating healthy. They become “food pushers” who want you to eat what they are eating or what they are making. I’m happy no one in my office is like that.

But damn, that cake smelled good when I was sitting there eating my fruit cup!

And a little bit of housekeeping… called “How I Blog.” Continue reading 'Fruit Cup'»

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By kilax, August 19, 2008 5:14 am

Pros of exercising INDOORS, on the treadmill:

• Flat, even terrain
• No wind! No resistance!
• Flat screen tv to watch
• Proximity to shower/bathroom
• Ample light
• No one can see you huffing and puffing
• No funny outdoor smells
• NO BUGS IN YOUR BRA

While Steven and I were walking home after running in the park last night, the area under my right breast really started to itch. Sports bras are a bit uncomfortable, so I figured that was all it was, and kept itching at it. I hurried up to the shower to peal it off and found…

… a little black bug with tiny legs.

GROSS! GROSS! GROSS! GROSS! GROSS!

Gross.

You can probably guess that I took a LONG shower and scrubbed extra hard.

In all honesty, I prefer running outside over running on an indoor track, and I prefer running on an indoor track over running on the treadmill. But last night we had to run in the dark. And it’s August! I can’t get home any earlier, so I guess I will be using the treadmill a lot more (than I prefer) during the colder/darker season. I’m lucky we have one at home.

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By kilax, August 18, 2008 5:37 am

Our one year wedding anniversary is two weeks from today – on September 1st (Labor Day).

We haven’t planned anything to celebrate, besides the tradition of eating the top of our wedding cake, which has been sitting in our freezer, in plain site for so long, I am surprised I have not devoured it already.

What I’m (we’re, really) wondering is, do people following the anniversary gift-giving traditions? For example, the “traditional” gift for one year of marriage is paper, and the modern gift is clocks. Does the wife actually give her husband something made out of paper – tickets, a painting, whatever – or a clock, watch, etc.? Yeah, it’s a silly question, but it must be tradition for some reason.

What did you do to celebrate? Or what would you do?

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By kilax, August 17, 2008 8:11 pm

Although Steven and I didn’t do anything productive in the true sense of the word this weekend, we did:

• Purchase tickets for the two of us and my parents to see Robin Williams at the Chicago Theater on September 27. (I HATE TICKETMASTER. I had four seats together, then it wouldn’t recognize my password, so I lost the seats. Now we are not sitting together. Sad face.)
• Exercise! We went jogging on Saturday, and will go jogging again tonight. I’ve gone jogging everyday this week except for Friday!
• See Tropic Thunder. It’s true, Robert Downey Jr.’s performance is brilliant. It was a bit drug out, but still really funny. And although the “retard” bit was a bit offensive, I don’t think it was that bad. I honestly wouldn’t have thought too much of it if I hadn’t heard about all the controversy before hand.
• Locate and purchase a copy of Mario Kart for the wii. Now Steven can be happy. I hope.
• And… meet up with Felicia (and a friend) from Confessions of a geeky blogger! We met for lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery and had an awesome time. Felicia is one of those girls you like right away – 100% friendly, open and lots of fun! And I love her voice! Is it weird to say that? She just comes off as a warm and true-to-themselves person. If that makes sense. I’m so happy I got to meet up with her! I hope her friend wasn’t too bored with us – but I doubt it, she was just as cool as Felicia.

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By kilax, August 16, 2008 11:09 pm

Steven and I just finished watching Definitely, Maybe. You could probably guess that I put it on our netflix list, but we both liked it.

The story is about Will, who is going through a divorce when his 10-year old daughter Maya questions him about how he and her mother met. Will tells Maya the story of three women in his life – his college sweetheart, his best friend, and a talented writer – and leaves it up to Maya to guess which is her mother.

The story made me think about when Steven and I first met and what a wonderful start we had to our relationship.

Yes, it brought back all those warm fuzzies, that I feel I must share with you.

I met Steven the Friday before I started my freshman year of college. We were at the same Frat party (reluctantly drug there by friends) and two completely random people introduced us to each other. Steven ended up walking me back to my dorm and (aww) asking me for my number. He promptly called me the next day to invite me to watch a football game at a friend’s house.

You know when you immediately get that feeling about someone? That there is something intriguing about them, and you want to spend more time with them? You’re giddy and happy and excited and nervous all at the same time? It was like that.

It was my first week of college, and already I was thinking, “when will class be over so I can see him?” We both went away for Labor Day weekend, and the whole time, I was thinking about him. I remember telling my parents about this new “friend” I met. I called him immediately when I got back to school.

Steven was a senior and knew a lot about the town that I didn’t. It made me feel special when he would take me to places he liked – like this coffee shop, where we would “study,” which really means we stared at our books for awhile, then would start talking and flirting, and sitting closer to each other on the couch.

I had so much fun getting to know him, finding out his interests, sharing our pasts, being coy with each other…

… it just brings back a smile to my face. I wonder if there is a way to recapture that mystery, intrigue and excitement of first getting to know someone. Even thinking about it now makes me feel that kind of contentment.

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By kilax, August 15, 2008 12:45 pm

Suppose you are truly color-blind, and all you can see is black and white. Then one day you wake up and find you can see one color. Which color would you want it to be?

It’s not even my favorite color, but I have to say RED. It’s such a strong, energetic, vibrant color. It would be beautiful to see in comparison to white, grays and black.

Have you read The Giver by Lois Lowry? That has got to be one of my all-time favorite books, even though I think it is meant for little kids (the wikipedia description of the plot is pretty good).

I mention this book because (you guessed it) the people in it cannot see color. The main character discovers color, and it’s written so well… check it out if you haven’t already!