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By kilax, November 13, 2017 12:20 pm

It amazes me how creaky my body sometimes feels when I wake in the morning. Come on, body! You just got many hours of sleep! You should be raring to go!

Ha, the logical part of my brain knows that some of my muscles tense up at night and need to be stretched out to feel good. And another logical part of me knows that as I get older, that feeling is probably only going to get worse.

You know, unless I take care of myself, like by stretching every day…

At least I do a good job with a monthly massage!

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be a sponsored elite athlete and get a massage every day? And have someone cook for you? And take naps every day? And only have to focus on running and not work…? Ha ha ha – I got a bit off track there.

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By kilax, November 11, 2017 7:54 am

(about my sense of humor)

Remember when you were a little kid, and wanted to say a bad word, but didn’t want to get in trouble, so you’d say one half, and your sibling would say the other?

“Shhhhhhhhhh…”

“itttttttttttttttttttt!”

No?

Just me?

On Friday, my brother-in-law responded to an email I sent him with “booo.” I hope he understands my response of “bsssss.” Ha ha ha ha. Ha.

I was looking for a photo of me and my younger brother, who I’d often do this with, but my box of old photos is MIA. So you get this photo of young Kim (too young to be saying bad words with her siblings) instead.

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By kilax, November 9, 2017 6:28 am

• Two years ago, I wrote about the ponytail rule my middle school track coach had –
  he didn’t want to see any lateral sway in our ponytails when we ran. The implication was that it meant you were running inefficiently. In the comments, we couldn’t figure out WHY. Well, guess what I saw in an article in the November/December issue of Chicago Athlete? A somewhat explanation. Ha! I am still going to wear my hair in a bun and not worry about it though.

• Anyone who eats out with me knows that I LOVE Red Robin because they have a vegan and vegetarian burger option, and bottomless (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) fries. They are phasing out those burger options though, and replacing it with just one vegan* “ancient-grain-and-quinoa” (read: “trying to look healthy”) burger, and guess what? It’s gross (taste and texture). So gross I didn’t finish my burger last time I was there and I ALWAYS FINISH MY FOOD. Why Red Robin, why? Steven emailed them last month about the change and they sent some generic response. I emailed them again this week pleading they bring back the Boca burger (no response yet). That used to be my easy go to place with big groups of people, and I don’t think it will be anymore. Bummer.

• A local station started playing holiday music on Tuesday. Yay! I love holiday music, and it’s fun when the season is over, because then I get to hear all the new tunes I missed when they came out because I was listening to holiday music.
• Has anyone else started using the new google calendar? I like how it adds images to some of my events based on the title, like this one with swimming:

*They told us it was vegan on the phone, but we can’t confirm it on their website

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 154

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By kilax, November 8, 2017 6:24 am

Gah, I am so sick of dreaming about work each night. It ranges from me doing my job, to someone showing up in the office who hasn’t in years, to messing up at a meeting in front of “important” people, to not even coming in because I missed my train. Stupid brain.

How about a break from the work dreams? We saw the new Thor movie this weekend – maybe a dream about Chris Hemsworth instead? Ha ha.

I understand I’m dreaming about work because I’m thinking about it more, but I just want a night of restful sleep! And that’s already a challenge with this guy and his sister sleeping on me…

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By kilax, November 6, 2017 12:54 pm

Thanks, Data, for doing your tribal meow, on repeat, from another room on a different floor, while I was on the phone with my boss this morning.

I was about to mute the call to yell at him to shut up when my boss goes “is that a cat?”

Sigh. Yes, a cat who wants to play, and should play with his sister instead of making those horrible noises.

“I love cats!” she said.

Phew.

I’d really like to make a good impression on the person (her!) who might ask to extend my detail… maybe I should tell her two of the cats have Game of Thrones names – I know she’s a fan. Ha!

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By kilax, November 3, 2017 4:05 pm

I got this email from Auntie Anne’s on Wednesday and thought “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE NEW EMOJIS ARE OUT?! I NEED THAT PRETZEL.”

I did not pass go. I did not collect $200. I went straight to my settings and downloaded the new iOS.

And then I began happily using my new emojis, although, no one could see them, because no one else rushed to update and several friends don’t use an Apple phone anyway. That pretzel tho. So worth it.

While I was not passing go and not collecting $200, I was also not reading about how the new iOS would affect my phone (eh). There were quite a few changes I will get used to, and also, the phone seems a bit slow when I type. Sigh. That pretzel tho.

I also noticed I was getting less texts. Odd, right? I don’t use sound or vibrate on my phone (ever). To get text notifications, I have them pop up on my lock screen, and stay up. I see them whenever I look at my phone. My phone wasn’t doing that anymore. Huh.

So after two days, I looked at the settings, and realized when I upgraded it added new options for pop ups on the lock screen – temporary (they flash then go away) and persistent (they stay up). The phone automatically made them temporary, so I wasn’t seeing them, and wouldn’t notice I had texts until I opened my phone and saw the notification on the app. Oops.

I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose, I swear! That’s not my style. I respond to texts as quickly as I can!

I wonder what else it changed. Totally worth it for that pretzel tho.

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By kilax, November 2, 2017 6:41 am

• In a meeting yesterday, we did an activity where everyone wrote their name on a piece of paper, then passed it around the table, and everyone else wrote one positive thing about that person. It was interesting to see what people said about me, since I’ve been in this group less than six weeks! Someone accidentally wrote “well dressed” on mine. Ha ha ha. Ha. Ha.

• Gmail users, do you have the “undo send” setting turned on? I do. I didn’t realize how much I rely on this feature until recently.  I was using a shared gmail inbox at work and hit send, then wanted to undo the send because I saw a typo. But I couldn’t, because that setting wasn’t turned on for that inbox! I also wanted to undo a send in yahoo mail the other day… I don’t think that’s even an option there. I suppose instead of relying on it I could do a better job proofreading (not just for exclamation points)??!?!
• Those of you using Garmin Connect – did you see you can add a photo to your workout entries now? I added some, and like how they show up in the mobile app (top of the screenshot below). A while ago, I read that Garmin wants Connect to be more of a social media platform. Adding the photo option must be part of that effort. I think it’s fun.

• Steven proposed a recurring blog series idea to me this week – “No F*cks Friday,” where I talk about something from my week or something the media is talking about that week, that I don’t give an eff about. Ha ha ha. Oh Steven. Maybe “IDGAF Friday”?

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• We don’t have cable or antenna at home (we have a ROKU and a few streaming subscriptions) so we get somewhat excited when we are traveling and have a chance to watch network/cable TV. Sad. Anyway. We were planning to watch some TV when we were in Iowa last weekend but we were too busy! And I was all pumped to watch the David S Pumpkins special. Ha ha ha.

Random Thoughts Thursday 153

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By kilax, November 1, 2017 5:35 am

Nearly the same picture as last year!

• Month two of my detail! I am currently in my sixth week and immensely enjoying it. My mood about work is better than it’s been in… years? I learn something new every day, and all of it helps me understand the organization I work for better. And I feel like I’m helping people! So, yay!
• And as fun as that all is, two four day weekends – Veterans Day Weekend and Thanksgiving Weekend. This is the first Friday after Thanksgiving I’ll have off in eight years, because I recently switched which Friday I get off.
• DST ending. I think I need that daylight in the morning to help me wake up. And I love dark evenings.
• Seeing the new Thor film!
• More fires:
  
• Christmas Holiday stuff – getting a tree and putting decorations up, ordering holiday cards, and listening to holiday music. The music starts today! Ooo, and continuing to burn fall candles!
• Finishing my own holiday wishlist, and present shopping for family! And some friends – I will ask who wants to exchange gifts and who’d rather like to do something together in lieu of gifts.
• Starting 5K training – I suppose I should start thinking about whether or not I am going to run Frosty at the end of February. I have a lot of work to do to get 5K ready!
• Colder weather meaning it’s not as grossly hot in the studio.
• Dates with friends!

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By kilax, October 31, 2017 12:38 pm

Before I publish each blog post, I reread it several times, in an attempt to catch spelling and grammar errors, and to make sure it’s somewhat coherent (ha) and appropriate. AND to make sure I don’t go overboard with exclamation points.

Because, whoa, I overuse them.

While reviewing, I tend to remove several from each post. I ask “am I really that enthusiastic about that topic?” before leaving one in.

Where I need to get better about reviewing my exclamation point use is blog comments, comment responses here, texting, and emails. I reread work emails several times before sending to make sure if I have one, it’s absolutely appropriate.

But I am not so good with personal emails. And if you’ve ever received any type of correspondence from me, it’s likely been littered with exclamation points. I just want to appear enthusiastic, it seems! I AM EXCITED ABOUT LIFE!!! I am excited to be talking to YOU!!!

You know what Snow’s excited about?! Halloween!

He says “Happy Halloween, and FYI, you can use a pumpkin stem to get to those pesky face itches.”

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By kilax, October 30, 2017 6:36 am

My ten year college class of architecture reunion was this weekend. One classmate spearheaded organizing the entire weekend – there was a gathering with professors Friday night, a visit to campus, tailgating, and a game on Saturday, and brunch on Sunday.

Steven and I attended the Saturday events – which also happened to be my first tailgate and football game ever! And it was homecoming weekend at Iowa State University (ISU)!

We arrived in town late Friday night and we ran in to several classmates at the hotel. I immediately thought to myself “Why didn’t I spend the months leading up to this looking at everyone’s social media profiles so I would remember their names?!” Oops. There were about sixty-five of us in the architecture program, and about thirty coming to the reunion*. That’s a lot to remember! But I did a screenshot of the invitee list so that on Saturday I could peek if I forgot someone’s name – which I did a few times! Shhh. Hee hee.

I did spend time before the event thinking it was odd that I was going back at all. I was friendly with everyone in college, but a bit of a withdrawn loner – I didn’t participate in the extracurricular group events that the entire class was invited to. I had a few friends that I hung out with from time to time, but I mostly kept to myself. I wasn’t shy. I just did my school work and my own thing. Eh.

So it seemed odd to go back after all these years and do the things I didn’t do when I was in school.

And I had so much fun at the reunion that it made me think “I wish I would have been more social when I was in school.” But not so much from a regretful standpoint. More of an “okay, learn your lesson, Kim” standpoint – people can be fun and you don’t have to be so withdrawn all. the. time. Yeah… anyway…

A bus was rented to take us from the hotel (about thirty miles from campus) to the college and to tailgating, and back at the end of the day. Leading up to the day, I was imagining a school bus with traditional seats, but that wasn’t what this was! It was a bus with a bench seats down both sides and across the back, and party lights and speakers. My classmates had a playlist prepped with tunes that were popular from 2002-2007, when we were in school. Ha ha ha. Perfection.

We rode to the College of Design – the campus building where we finished our last two years of school.

We walked in and everyone immediately commented on how it looked, felt, and even smelled the same as it did ten years ago. Ahh, memories of way too much time spent in that building.

We were all curious to see the new underclassman studio addition to the building. When we were in school, our underclassmen (years one through three) studios were in the armory. The space the underclassmen have now is way more posh! And it’s nice that it’s actually connected to the College of Design (we were across the street).

After the tours we tailgated until was game time. Steven’s fraternity brothers were tailgating too, so he got to see them!

As I mentioned, this was my first football game. I had to have Steven explain football to me on the drive the night before so I would know what I was watching (I understand fútbol, not football). But I was mostly able to follow, yay!

We sat with several of my classmates and saw ISU get two touchdowns in the first half. The opposing team got a touchdown right away at the beginning of the second half, and things got tense, but ISU won, which was a big deal because the other team was ranked so high. People stormed the field, which was exciting to see!

A few people had tailgated the entire time we were at that game, and when we got back afterward, they were in very good spirits. Ha ha. We had an entertaining bus ride back to the city.

Then had a very late dinner and called it a night!

Steven and I both had a great time, and are happy we went back. It was fun reconnecting with my classmates, and I’m grateful someone took the time to organize it all. They’re talking about doing it again in five years, and I’ll totally be there!

*When I got back home I looked at the list of people who declined on Facebook, and realized I had completely forgotten about a lot of them! Eek!