Things I Am Giving Up

You know, like for Lent. Except, instead of "Lent," it's "Mental and Emotional Stability."

Also weightloss.

-caffeine
-alcohol, except once or twice a week (if I am invited)
-dairy (except feta)
-refined sugar

And I've been doing longer runs on the days in between my short run/weightlifting workouts.

So far all of this has made me very, very tired. I would kill a man right now for a decaf iced soy mocha.

Things I've Totally Not Been Slacking On At ALL

-working out (in fact, I've gone up to 5x/week, instead of 3)

-washing all of the walls in my apartment

-stock-piling random photos I take so that I don't have to lift any from the internet and my posts can still have visual flair. like this:

Things I Have Been Slacking On

-blogging on this blog, at all
-posting about the stuff I said I'd post about on my other blog
-vacuuming my ugly carpet
-practicing viola (how'd I go from every day to almost never?)
-quitting my band

Things I've Purchased in Tours

1. Contact lens case and juice (left the case in Salt Lake and the juice in Paris)
2. A Spanish-French dictionary (easier than French-English)
3. International-quality stamps (for international-quality friendships)
4. Batteries for my little alarm (so that Bernard doesn't have to wake me and see me splayed across the bottom bunk every morning)

Downsizing Fail

Things I Use My Laptop For
-music (iTunes, Pandora, CD player, etc.)
-movies and TV (Hulu, Netflix, DVD player, etc.)
-blogging
-homework (back when I was a student)
-keeping in touch (email, skype, facebook, etc.)
-and other various ways of staving off Boredom

Good Things About Using One Device for Many Purposes
-saves money (no need to buy CD player, DVD player, etc.)
-saves space (less bulky than the ol' typewriter, that's for sure)
-super portable (everything I need, wherever I go!)

Bad Things About Using One Device for Many Purposes
-sometimes it has to go into The Shop


This blog brought to you by the semi-public computer at the main desk in the Children's Department.

~FIN~

Expert Slacking

Today I was going to accomplish something before work (at 1:00). Like maybe hang that shelf in the bathroom, or practice viola (didn't want to break my streak), or write that blog post I've been meaning to get tackle since April...


But instead, I...
-took a short walk with Kevin in the cool morning, then continued on to my Moms' house, while he rode off to work
-ate eggs in a basket with Rosie
-watched her parade various clothing options through the new kitchen ("This one twirls goodly," she said, and Mom and I waited til she'd skipped out of the room to laugh)
-rode my bike all the way home (and it wasn't as difficult as I'd remembered--I must be getting in shape)
-chatted and made plans for coffee with an old friend (a recently rekindled relationship)
-took a long, hot bath
-read the book for my Spanish book club
-took a nap


...and now I'm at work, and everything is fine. My only regret is not practicing. It was a particularly good streak.

Reasons to Stop Drinking Coffee, Expanded

1 - The caffeine makes me instantly tired and later jittery

2 - The acidity messes up my stomach's PH balance for the rest of the day, creating a volatile digestive environment

3 - Also then I crave simple sugars and carbs for the rest of the day (currently craving: chocolate cake)

4 - The Comedown: Jittery, yes, but also irritable, cranky, moody, blue, etc.

5 - BECAUSE I SAID I WOULD, DAMNIT! And I try to be a woman of my word.

*     *     *

In other news, I should probably also stop ripping images off of google and start using my own images, both for copyright issues and because I am fully capable of taking decent photos. (Although the one I stole today is probably more fitting than whatever I would have come up with. It'll be a good last theft, then).

Things I Need to Stop

- drinking caffeine

- thinking I can make it to work on my bike in 5 minutes

- wasting time on the internet ("Weapons of mass distraction" -- Prof. Montague)

- feeling guilty for getting what I want

- falling asleep with the lights on and my contacts in

Age and Location

25 - Sarah with an H who lives alone on H Street.

24 - Sarah, "La Americana," calle Rafael Salazar Alonso, 9º Izda, with Little María, María Oviedo, and Marta.

23 - Sarah in her senior year of college, living with Brett-mate on 9th and 9th (a situation which I first hated and later loved).

22 - Sarah in Summer School--long-term house-sitter for the Moms, gardener, camper, kickball player. I failed to move out when they returned, but they liked the free baby-sitting.

21 - Sarah in the basement, her own bedroom suite, of Sara (no H)'s place. I met her when I was 14 and she was 23. Much awkwardness ensues.

20 - Sarah smoking weed in the basement before work at Einstein's, while upstairs Mom, Beth, and Natalie fight and baby Bastian learns to self-entertain.

19 - Sarah is Chi's girlfriend, and they live together in the Little Red House on McClelland with Mel and a rotating fourth roommate.

18 - Sarah from Ogden, freshman, living in the dorms with Sung-Ah, Mel and Janet the Bitch.

17 - Sarah the Stoner, living (if you can call it that) with Dad on McClelland, though I frequently snuck out to crawl into my boyfriend's bed.

16 - Sarah in between--Dad sells his house before finding us a new one, so I move into an office connected to Natalie's bedroom. Mom decorates it nicely.

15 - Sarah, Child of Divorce, living alone with dad in the Big House in Shadow Valley, but with a room at Mom's place on 25th Street, where the walls are blue with fluffy clouds.

14, 13, 12, 11 - Sarah in her early teens, a big house in Shadow Valley, across the street from Whitney, and the family is still (fighting) together.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 - Sarah Anne Bunny Anne Custen. A house in South Ogden, 825 East, 5750 South, and I can still remember not believing my mom when she said that though I'd grown up and lived most of my childhood there, this is the place I would remember the least, because I was so young. She was right, but I do remember:

- Walking home from school, one and a half miles, reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and almost getting hit by cars
- Leaving a continuous trail behind me of grass and leaves, thinking that someday I'd be known as The Woman Who Leaves a Trail Wherever She Goes
- Catching frogs in the field behind the houses
- Playing Doctor with at least three different neighborhood boys
- The college kids who had a garage band down the street, where we would sit on the lawn and listen to them practice while Toby the kitten sucked on our fingers with his rough tongue. We didn't like the music, but knew it would be cooler to pretend that we did.
- And so much more.

Qualities

Both good and bad, but definitely who I am, relational or not:

-impatient
-thoughtful ("detallista," in Spanish--a detailist)
-gentle
-serious
-worrisome
-impulsive
-creative
-COMPASSIONATE

(This last one struck me, while out drinking with Allison, as we were discussing the head of the organization where we both work--a woman loathed by most, including myself--and I realized that I feel bad for her. Even though I think she's earned all of the bad press and sentiment directed towards her, I still feel bad for her. It must suck to be so openly hated).

One Strength Per Day

As assigned by my counselor:

Saturday 3.12 - I am good with children

Sunday 3.13 - I am physically fit

Monday 3.14 - I am good at my job, a hard worker

Tuesday -

Wednesday - I take interesting pictures

Thursday 3.17 -

Friday 3.18 -

I obviously didn't do too well, and in the end, Jenny said that these were too "relational"--that they mostly had to do with other people and weren't necessarily qualities inherent in myself.

New York by the Numbers

Things I Have Eaten in 2011

   1) Lots of Wine
2) Shepherd's Pie from Scott Pilgrim
3) Vegan Scones

4) Brunch

5) Salad w/ PALM HEARTS (yes)

6) Rainbow Chip
7) Lunch @ Gourmandie's

Things to do RIGHT NOW

1 - Stop comparing yourself to other people

2 - Stop comparing yourself to other people


3 - STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER PEOPLE, SARAH, COME ON

(They have nothing to do with you. How they live their lives has nothing to do with how you live yours. Seriously.)

To Do (This Week)

• learn lyrics to "Hush Little Baby" (he may be 7 months old, but he knows you're faking it)
• finish dropping out of school (don't be a wuss, now)
• start new blog 
• finish updating old blog
• track down that blue book
• find a place to live
• stop fighting with Boyfriend