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By kilax, November 10, 2014 12:42 pm

Where you work, do you spend most of your time sitting or standing? Do you have the option to switch from one to the other?

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to become a lecture on how sitting all day is killing us and negating any exercise we do, ever (we’ve already discussed that!).

My day job is actually in office design, and it excites me that one of the current popular trends is adjustable work-height desks. So, throughout the day, you can move the height of your work surface so you can sit or stand (sometimes this is a function of the desk itself, and sometimes, it’s something you put on your desk, and sit your laptop on). 

I really hope this trend sticks around, because I like the idea of being able to adjust how I am working. In fact, I do it now, at the office and at home. Neither place is fancy enough to have a moveable desk height (manual or automatic), but I have bar height surfaces at both locations that I do use when I feel like standing – typically in the afternoon at home, and last week, at work when I realized how sore I was from my self-inflicted DOMS. Ha ha. 

Chair for Data to use to keep me company

Now, just don’t ask me how I feel about the trend of treadmill desks… I still need to try one before I can form an opinion. Yeah, that’s it!

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By kilax, November 6, 2014 6:18 am

• I love it when I am trying to learn more about a program at work by reading a brochure about it, and find my name listed under contacts, as an expert on the program. Um…
• It feels like Steven and I haven’t seen as many movies in the theater this year as we have in the past – only ten so far! On Tuesday we saw Interstellar on the IMAX. I enjoyed the story (minus one hokey bit) and liked the acting and the music (when it wasn’t too loud <— old lady alert). And it was a MILLION times better than the last thing I saw in the IMAX – Gravity. Uhhh. Shudder. Ha ha. I hope Interstellar is an Oscar nominee, so we have a head start on seeing the movies on that list. Ha ha. 

• I’m going strong with re-learning Spanish – I am on a 53 day streak on the Duolingo app! I finally hit a snag, though, when it came to re-learning verbs in past tense. The app started me off with all of the irregular verbs and I was having a hard time remembering how to conjugate the normal ones! Luckily, I bought this book that xaarlin recommended, and it’s helping me! A few people have recommended I use a Spanish tutor (for conversation) as well. Hmm… maybe if I keep it up! Right now, it is really rewarding to work on it a little bit each day!
• The hardest part about getting a tattoo (for me) was not soaking it under water – luckily that ended a week and a half ago! I LOVE taking way too hot baths and it was hard to go without one for two weeks (ha ha, I still showered!). (And okay, okay, not scratching it was hard, too – it got pretty itchy!)

• After running with music made me feel so energized last week, I decided to make a playlist for the 5K I am doing this Friday night! I mostly chose electronic songs – those seem to get me going the most!

• All the pictures in this post blow, so here is a fun one! Can you believe I didn’t buy that sweater?! Did I ever tell you guys about the person who contacted me last year after I posted this, asking me to sell that sweater to them? They told me they contacted every Target and they are all sold out, so I should sell them mine, cause they really need it. Um, what?! No one needs a cat sweater. Not even me!
  

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 67

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By kilax, November 4, 2014 6:14 am

If you follow my blog’s Facebook page, you know I like to share photos of sunsets and sunrises (and… the sky in general, ha ha). On many occasions, the glimpse of a beautiful skyscape has caused me to pause a run, or pull over my car and stop, or get out of bed and go outside, to enjoy it and snap a photo for memory. 

Is anybody else crazy about documenting the beautiful sky? (if you are, share your pics on my blog Facebook wall or email them to me!)

Luckily, my friend Kelly is just as obsessed as I am, and we are constantly sharing our sky photos with one another. Or alerting the other person if they need to find their way outdoors or to a window right meow so they don’t miss something great. 

October was a such a beautiful month, and I did share a large amount of the photos I took, but when I was doing my monthly photo frame activity, I realized seeing them all together made me feel happy, so I decided to put them all in one spot so I can look back at them whenever I want. Maybe I will make this a monthly post (doubtful, ha ha). 

You can click on a photo in the gallery to see the whole thing (then use your back back button to come back since that was the extent to which it would let me code the gallery). With the exception of the Milwaukee and Chicago photos, all of these are taken near my home! It’s so beautiful where we live!

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By kilax, November 1, 2014 3:53 pm

Ha ha, are you wondering what that title is in regard to?

During my work week I discovered one of the contractors assigned to the project ran the Chicago Marathon this year. Naturally, running and exercise related conversation ensued. Which I enjoyed, but felt bad about during and after – I didn’t intend to dominate a group conversation with a topic only a couple of people could participate in.

So later I apologized to my coworker about it, and she said, well, what the title says – “Well, I would rather talk about it than do it!”

Which of course, was a funny way to respond and it made me laugh. But then I got to thinking about the comments the other people listening to the running-talk were adding, and it was all comments about why they can’t exercise, or why they don’t, or how lame it is. 

Sigh.

I am unfortunately used to these kind of responses when people find out I am vegan. The most common responses are why people don’t do it, or how they never could. Or how good meat tastes.

It gets old, ha ha. 

Do you have any interests or hobbies that gets a response like this?

But back to exercise. What’s with the exercise-shaming? In a society where more and more people are reported obese each year, why are people making fun of those who take the time to work out?

Really, why, when people share a passion or hobby, do people come back with things that are wrong about it, or why it would never interest them?

I’ve written about this before. And I will say the same – when someone tells me about an interest of theirs that I don’t share, I ask questions. I try to learn about it. 

Anyways.

The funny thing is, while I talk about exercise a lot on here, I don’t, much at all, at work. I don’t tell my coworkers about upcoming races, or the classes I teach (save for my fave coworker that I can talk to).

So it is exciting when I find someone I can talk to it about! I mean, just like you get excited when you find anyone who shares a similar interest. And yes, I have more interests than running! 

Dressed as Chewie for Star Wars Day. 

The good thing about spending so much time with people though, is that you find out a lot of things about them, so while my coworker doesn’t have any interest in exercise, I found out she is a huge Star Wars fan and likes heavy metal. So those are things we can talk about, amicably.

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By kilax, October 31, 2014 12:35 pm

Yes. Thank GOD.

That’s the reaction I would have liked to give at lunch when the waitress asked me*. Instead I just smiled and said yes.

I was in an intense work engagement all week long. In one room, with the same people, all day, even for lunch. The only privacy was in the bathroom, and sometimes we were even talking between the stalls there!

It was a great group of people, but man, I am someone who needs time to themselves during the day. I just don’t handle being “on” all the time, well. It’s exhausting for me. And not because I am used to working from home. I get privacy in the office when I want it. It’s the constant, all the time interaction. I like that from time to time, for sure, but a few days really gets to me. My recent trip to DC was like that too.

Wah wah wah, right? Luckily I’m not in a full-time job that’s like that all the time, and I only have to deal with it here and there!

Does all day engagement with people (at work or home) exhaust you or give your energy?

In my personal life, I have people I can spend days with, but then again – I get to be me! I don’t have to be “on” around my friends or family! And I can say if I need a moment to myself.

Enough whining! Happy Halloween! My “celebrations” so far have included a Halloween playlist for strength class this am, wearing cat ears, and bringing pumpkin muffins. A couple of people “dressed up” for Halloween too!

I’m thinking tonight we’ll do something exciting like watch Halloween-ish movies on Netflix. Sounds perfect after being out all week!

*Which I was super confused about – I was sitting down eating at a table appropriately sized for one. I suppose she was just making conversation. Winky face.

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By kilax, October 30, 2014 6:44 am

Would you feel more comfortable teaching something to a group of people you know or don’t know?

I saw this post pop up on my Facebook feed and was excited – they’re talking about a new class I’ll be teaching!

Then I was like, “holy crap that class starts this Monday,” and “ahhhhh, I’ll be teaching a bunch of strangers!!!

But hey – they’re only strangers the first time I meet them, right?

The unique thing about the studio where I teach strength class is that people sign up for classes for the month, and may take the same “night” of class for a long time. It ends up being a close-knit family cause you see your group every week for months on end! Drop-ins happen, but not often.

Sooooo… I end up knowing most of the people I teach really well, which gives me lots of advantages – I know their strengths and weaknesses (and can plan workouts focusing on them), I know their injuries (and can modify for them), I know their weight range (so I can tell them safely which weights to use), and I know their likes and dislikes and personalities. AND… they know me and what to expect. And I know I can get away with cheesy jokes and bad dance moves and a bit (oops) of swearing.

I don’t have that with a class full of brand new people, but! I’ll figure it out quickly enough and make class fun for them. Ha, and if not fun, at least challenging/worth their time!

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By kilax, October 29, 2014 5:36 am

Have you ever liked the sound of an artist or band so much that you pre-ordered their album without hearing it all?

In the beginning of September I was perusing the top downloaded alternative songs list on iTunes and ran in to the band Milky Chance. One of their songs (“Down By the River”) sounded so familiar, like I’d hear it in a commercial or a movie, but I couldn’t pinpoint where.  I listened to the few other songs they had available off of their album Sadnecessary, and found myself downloading all of them! So I went ahead and pre-ordered the entire album – the first time I’d ever done that!

In fact, it’s hard to recall any entire album I’ve downloaded over the past few years. I think the only other, since I went digital, was Lady Gaga’s most recent.

So I have been pleasantly looking forward to the Milky Chance songs as they become released. I was really excited to hear one being played on an alternative radio station in the beginning of October and, gasp!!! – last Thursday, one of the Chicago pop stations (which tend to play the same 10 songs over and over) actually played one of their songs! I was shocked!

When we heard the song play I told Steven that I like their music so much I’d love to see them perform if I ever had the chance (hint hint, ha ha). I haven’t been to a (non-symphony) concert since I saw Van Halen with my parents! (Hmm, was that fall ’05, Dad?)

I follow the band on Facebook and saw they are touring the states next year! So I bought two tickets for me and Steven. It’s a long way off but I’m really looking forward to it and hoping we can make it in to a fun little date night or getaway for us!

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By kilax, October 28, 2014 6:38 am

I never really cared about Halloween until we happened to be in my hometown for it one year (2010) and ended up going out with my family and having a blast! For the three following years it became a tradition that I really look forward to. 

Is Halloween a big deal for you?

I was pumped about it this year. I actually had a few costume ideas in advance, for once! And! We were going to get to go out with my older brother and his girlfriend, who I still haven’t had a chance to share a drink with… but… wompitty womp. I have a super lame-town work schedule this week, and with Halloween being on a Friday, there was no way for me to get to my hometown (a five-hour drive) in a decent amount of time to enjoy the holiday. So we can’t go. 

Sigh. I was pretty bummed. 

So when I saw something about a Halloween Parade in Galena, Illinois, pop up in my Facebook feed, I though that might be a fun way to celebrate, and since it’s not too far from my hometown, I thought maybe my mom and dad would come, too. 

Not only did they come, but my older brother and his kids and his girlfriend came, too!

And the parade was. a. BLAST!

This was my first time going, so I am not sure if it’s this way every year, but they went ALL out with the floats. You can’t tell very well from this picture, but this was a Frozen float, complete with “snow,” and the characters and music from the movie. 

Then there was this skull “car” that spit out fire in the back!

And other, just generally, creepy stuff!

Every now and then, a float carrying a hot air balloon torch (from the same place we took our hot air balloon ride) would come by and light up the street! It was pretty exciting, cause you never knew when they were going to light it. 

There were also several marching bands (two playing “Thriller,” ha ha), and lots of other floats I didn’t capture on film. The whole parade was about an hour long and the kids got a ton of candy handed to them! It was really festive and I loved it (minus the challenging parking situation, ha ha – just a TON of people in a small town – typical stuff)!

Unfortunately, though, it just made me feel more sad that I won’t be seeing my family on Halloween. So much for that curing my blues! Good thing Halloween is on a Saturday, next year!

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By kilax, October 27, 2014 4:39 am

For awhile, Steven and I have been discussing taking a camping trip to do some star photography, but we weren’t able to make it work with our schedule this summer. When I mentioned going to the Galena Halloween Parade this past weekend (more on that later this week!), Steven suggested making that our camping trip! The weather was going to be fantastic for October – sunny with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s – so we were in!

We drove to Apple River Canyon State Park (in Millville, Illinois) on Saturday afternoon. Steven called ahead to make sure we didn’t need to reserve a campsite, and sure enough – plenty were open (although quite a few filled by the night!). It was fun driving around and picking out the perfect site for us. The campgrounds were on top of the canyon, so some butted up to really pretty trails and looked over the canyon!

Ultimately, though, we chose one that was next to a giant field, which we thought would be better for taking the star photos that night (fewer trees in the way). 

We used a brand new tent that I picked up on super clearance at ALDI. Another dream camping trip, apart from the star photography one, would be to hike to our campsite, so we wanted a lighter tent than the behemoth we have. The new tent was super easy to set up and worked fantastically! Now all we need to work on is packing lighter, ha ha (<— will probably be easier without a zillion blankets to stay warm!). 

After setting up we went to the parade and got back to our campsite just past 11:00 pm. We were still determined to set up a fire (to warm up and eat s’mores!!!) and take the photos. 

Steven put his camera on the tripod and used his CamRanger (wireless camera control) to take the shots. We thought we’d take most of them in the open field behind our campsite, but actually really liked the way the photos looked with the trees in them! He played around with exposure time and some other settings, and we also did some light painting with our flashlights for fun. 

By the time we moved the camera to field to take the more open pictures we were used to the warmth of the fire and it felt quite a bit colder away from it! We didn’t spend as much time out there, ha ha. 

We went to bed a bit after 1:00 am, and it was 47°, with a lower real feel. The temperature definitely dropped over night. We were bundled up in several layers of clothes and blankets and didn’t feel too cold, but struggled to sleep on the hard ground! That is the nice thing about our other tent – it has a blow-up mattress built in to it! I remember both of us being awake in the very early morning and me telling Steven I was going to need to take a nap later in the day, hee hee. 

We starting cleaning up the campsite around 9:00 am the next morning. The new tent was super easy to disassemble and put away. Yay! And I am happy to report that we used everything we brought. 

After paying the $8 site fee*, we explored the park a bit more before we took off. The rock formations and river looked beautiful in the morning sunlight! We really liked camping there and if we go back, we’d like to take more time to actually hang out on the site. It’s not a huge one, but there are four small trails that I’d like to check out, and it would be fun to spend more time around the camp fire. 

This is actually the first time that the two of us have camped together without other people and it was really nice. I’ve been in need of a quiet night away and this was perfect!

*We were interested to find out that payment was on the honor system. The park ranger seemed grateful that we paid. And laughed at camping in the “cold” weather. 

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By kilax, October 23, 2014 6:23 am

Have you ever been surprised by the power an apology has had in making you feel better about something? Or maybe disappointed that it did nothing at all?

Sigh, I am equal parts amazed at how much a simple, sincere apology can make me feel better about a situation, and equal parts ashamed at how much I harbor frustrated feelings until I get one.

I try not to hold grudges, and give people the benefit of the doubt when they do something to me personally that makes me feel bad, but there is an innate part of me that wants acknowledgement… wants an apology. Immature? Maybe! And believe me – I definitely know the street goes both ways. I hope no one is waiting for an apology from me about something, and that if they are, that they approach me about the topic!

But, anyway… ha, that intro makes it seem like I am having personal drama* right now. I’m not! I was actually just thinking about an issue I’ve had a work for the past two months with someone underperforming and not listening to the requirements I gave them. Week after week I felt frustrated that they wouldn’t provide the deliverable I requested, despite explaining it to them several times and bringing other teammates in to help. Finally, we had a call to go over it again with their boss, and when the boss saw the deliverable did not meet the requirements the next week, well… the boss was not happy. And apologized to me several times.

Every single time I discussed that deliverable I found myself feeling tense and upset about it. And frustrated that I couldn’t get anywhere with it (despite bringing in other people to help). Several times, I ended the work day angry about it and went on a run to try to pound out my frustration.

But when the boss apologized to me? I instantly felt better. 

It just amazes me, how much having someone else say “I am sorry” can really mean. Having someone say “I get that this has been frustrating for you,” or whatever the situation is. 

Sometimes I just need that acknowledgement. (And sometimes I need to give it, too)

Ha! I didn’t even make this connection until I was about to publish this, but I got another apology last week that made me feel better about something. I was eating an Apple Pear Strudel Clif Bar and bit in to something hard with my teeth. I keep chewing, thinking… geesh, I don’t know what – that I was imagining it?! And kept biting in to something hard. Eventually I spit a tiny rock out my mouth. From a Clif Bar. I was a bit disturbed. I could have really hurt my teeth!

I love Clif Bars but felt like I had to say something about it, so I sent them an email, letting them know what happened, and their apology made me feel better about the whole thing. And the half-eaten** Clif Bar and rock are still sitting on my desk, waiting for an envelope to send it to them for analysis.

*But oh, I have. <— talk about emo /vague / annoying post
**I kind of laugh that it is half eaten because when I grabbed it as a snack I told myself to try to only eat half, knowing that would be pretty hard for me… ha ha. The rock made it easy to stop!