Routine

I'm a sucker for a schedule and rules. It's not that I never break the rules (although it's pretty infrequent) and I'm never spontaneous (although, let's be honest, that's not my usual M.O.) but I love a good routine. It helps keep me focused.

Now that Buster and I have been in the house for almost two months, we've got a pretty good routine down, especially on weekend mornings. He usually wakes me up around 7ish - ready to go outside and eat breakfast. Most mornings, I just make coffee, turn on the TV to watch news (sometimes real news, sometimes Entertainment news) and enjoy a few hours of a quiet morning. Some mornings, I get back into bed and read or fall back asleep.

But almost every weekend morning, after Buster has frolicked outside, eaten his breakfast and played a rousing game of fetch (usually on his own - he's pretty good at entertaining himself), he ends up back in bed for his first nap of the day. Babies and dogs - how I envy the amount they sleep.

So while I'm often making breakfast, doing laundry, planning my long run and making lists, this is what Buster is doing:

Procrastination

Why is it that some things I get done so quickly? I'm pretty good at staying on top of the day to day stuff - paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning. But other things I can put off for, well, years.

About 5 years ago, when I used to work with Jess as a hospice social worker, we made a habit of checking out the newly opening coffee shops. Because we worked out of our homes, we would stop into coffee shops to use their free wi-fi and both catch up on patient notes in between home visits and catch up with each other. It was in the early, honeymoon stages of our friendship.

So a new place, Progress Coffee, opened and we started frequenting it. It must have been fate b/c it was on the east side of town and, at the time, neither of us lived in that area. Now, both of us do.

One day, while doing some work and drinking our soy lattes, we noticed some posters for sale for an upcoming art show. What piqued our interest wasn't the art show but more so the poster. Jess's birthday was about to occur and it had her bday (and the day of the event) listed on it and DJ Mel (another nickname) was hosting. So while maybe all of this sounds like a bit of a stretch to feel such a connection, we were both very excited by the mention of 'us' in the poster. And we liked how it looked.

So we each bought one, framed them with a basic framing kit and were happy. Then when I moved a year and half ago, the glass frame broke. And up until today, it remained unframed.

Recently, Kelsey and I took advantage of a great sale on custom framing and while I'm still always shocked at how much framing costs, I'm so pleased with the results. So, once again, it hangs in my bedroom. And it still has the same meaning to me - it's symbolic of my first year in Austin, my new friendship and my new life.

Baby Steps

Yep, that's right. Lucie is taking them.

She's been crawling for several months now and pulling herself up and walking with ease around tables but Chris called me yesterday to say she had taken her first steps on her own. She's still more comfortable with crawling so reverts back to that more often than walking but she'll get past that quickly I'm certain.

I just can't believe she's almost a year old. A lot has happened in a year - some good, some bad, some very good, some very bad.

But, Monday, February 9, 2009 is a day that I will never forget.

The weekend before that was when I was out of town and received the phone call that Max had been attacked by a stray dog while my friend, Melina, was watching him. I flew home as quickly as possible and Max pulled through two more nights. On the morning of February 9, I was waiting for Jess to pick me up to meet with the surgeons at the vet hospital to determine what Max's options were and my phone rang.

It was 7am and I saw it was Chris. He had been very supportive during the past few days of emotional turmoil so I thought he was calling to wish me luck with the surgeon. Nope. Missy's water had broken and they were on their way to the hospital. Lucie was arriving 3 1/2 weeks early.

At the end of a long day my life had changed. Max died from a blood clot and Lucie was born. Within a few hours of each other. So is the circle of life. The devastation of losing Max and the excitement of Lucie being born are completely mutually exclusive feelings. So you can imagine how that day must have felt.

But here we are almost a year later and I feel so lucky to be an active part of Lucie's life. I've been trying to think of a great 1st birthday gift. I know she won't care/know/remember what I get her but I like traditions.

Jess suggested tonight that I write her a letter every year on her birthday. One that reflects on my previous year with her. I loved this idea. Then I can give her the collection of them at some monumental moment in her life - graduation, going to college, getting married.

Of course I'll still get her tangible gifts. But this will have meaning to me now and her forever.

Honeybee

Most people know I have a tattoo on the upper right side of my back. It's a honeybee. Melissa means honeybee in Greek. I'm not Greek but I liked the meaning of it b/c it implied that Melissa's are nurturers, which I think I am.

I promise I'm going somewhere with this. Stick with me....

I've been watching Alias on DVD for the past few months. I never watched it when it was on TV but now I'm hooked. I'm suddenly suspicious that there are all sorts of front businesses out there (i.e. The Anton School of Business that Kelsey and I see on our runs - really? what is that place?).

I think it's fun to watch Sydney Bristow kick ass and I enjoy the snippets of Sarah McLachlen and soothing lighting they highlight when she's home after a hard day of work capturing the bad guys in places like Estonia, Moscow or Amsterdam.

As a crime-fighting agent, Sydney has a 'handle'. A name that she uses on her walkie when she's on a mission. Even though every bad guy seems to know who she is, she still uses her 'handle' when she's in the field. She's had a few different handles - Mountaineer and Phoenix were my favorites. So this led me to think about what my handle would be.

Obviously there are some minor details missing - I'm not an under-cover agent, I don't know how to run up a wall, I don't speak 10 languages and I bruise too easily (seriously, how does she never get bruises from all her crime-fighting? I get a bruise when I walk into my mattress).

But if I were an undercover agent, would I be 'honeybee'? After all, it's my name, I have a melancholy bee on my back and they can sting. But it doesn't sound tough enough.

Alas, for now, I have enough nicknames.

Surprises

Jim Pullin (Kelsey's husband) asked me the other day what was the biggest surprise that I'd encountered since becoming a home owner. My immediate response was that I am one. I'm still a bit in shock that all this has happened. I think b/c I've been so lucky and nothing has gone terribly wrong yet, and I've spent most of my time decorating and doing things I'd do even if I were renting, it hasn't hit me yet. Trust me, I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that nothing has gone terribly wrong. Especially b/c the few things that have been my home owner responsibility I've managed to put off quite nicely.

First, I discovered some small holes in one of the side yard chain link fence. I was so proud of myself for going to The Home Depot to buy chicken wire and other recommended items (by the very nice gentleman who helped me). That was in December. I've done nothing about it. And then last week, I was in the kitchen, Buster was outside, and I looked out my kitchen window in the backyard and saw my neighbor dog in the backyard with him. Where did he come from? How did he get there? I wasn't worried b/c they've met and get along but I was curious. He's a big boxer. Did he jump over the fence? So I walked outside and he ran back toward the side yard chain link fence and pushed it up, like a large doggie door, and ran right under it. So, patching those small holes isn't' going to help the situation. Good thing I didn't waste my time fixing that, right?

Then, (and I'm sorry Mom and Dad for admitting to this) two weeks after moving in, my top dead bolt lock wouldn't work with my key from the outside. I could lock it from the inside and still lock the bottom lock from the outside (and set my alarm) when I left. I felt secure enough knowing my alarm was on and my small (but scrappy) dog would drive a burglar crazy with his barking but obviously this needed to be fixed. Again, this was in December. I didn't understand why it wouldn't work anymore. The key was the same. What had changed? But it seemed like such a hassle to deal with it? Was I going to remove the lock and bring it somewhere? Pay a locksmith to come look at it? Well, thank goodness, I didn't do either of those things. This weekend, Kelsey recommended trying a little WD-40 on it. We did, left for a run, came back, and the lock is working fine. So, once again, procrastination worked in my favor.

I know this won't always be the case though. But I have to admit, when I lay in bed and I hear something strange or different like a louder rumble of my heat turning on, I say a little prayer that I won't have to do anything about it. This isn't my nature, I tend to tackle things head on but until I find my husband, I'd like to focus on decorating.

So to all you homeowners out there, what 'fix-it' items do you recommend having around the house? WD-40 for sure. Duct tape? What else? Devon managed to use her college dissection kit to fix an electrical problem the other days so I guess you never know what may work. But I'm open to recommendations.

In the meantime, Ken and Jess came over last night and hung a few more things for me (that required a drill). The shelves that Devon stole from my last house and the adorable coat holders that Jess made for me out of wood, fabric and tree branch hangers from The Container Store. Next up, sewing my kitchen curtains. Maybe in February......

The Color Purple

Last night, I went to see The Color Purple at the Texas Performing Arts Center at UT. Haley and I bought season tickets to the Broadway Across America series and this was the second in our installment.

I have to admit, I've never read the book or seen the movie. In fact, I knew very little about the plot before seeing the show, besides, as I told Haley, that it was 'soulful'. Soulful it was. It was amazing and moving and funny and beautiful and sad and entertaining. What a great way to spend my Sunday night. I really do want to see the movie now. Not only b/c I heard the movie is slightly different but also b/c I'd like to see Celie all over again. And see how Whoopi Goldberg (an EGOT winner) did in this role. Last night I mistakenly said she won an Oscar for this role; she didn't. She won for her role in Ghost but she was nominated for playing Celie so I'd like to see how it compares to last night's amazing performances.

As a side note, related to the color purple, I'm a bit obsessed with it lately. I love purple. I'm not sure if it's b/c it reminds me of my childhood (things like My Little Pony, my first bike or rollerskates) or the fact that I read once in InStyle magazine that purple was coming back (even Sandra Bullock agrees). Either way, I've been looking for ways to subtly incorporate it into my home decor and fashion. I don't want to go full force and regret having tons of purple later but my new comforter has some slight purple hues and I'm sitting around in my new purple hoodie as I type this.

As the half marathon nears, friends have been planning some cheering locations and plan to have a color theme so we can easily spot them. I chose purple of course. The year of purple continues.

Home Body

It's that time of year when most of us are more likely to stay in at night. The days are shorter and the weather is colder. On top of that I love being home.

I have to say, I'm really happy with how my house is coming together. The living area and kitchen are pretty much done (although I'll always have little projects I want to do) and now I'm working on my bedroom.

But I find that at the end of the day, after working for up to 10 hours and then squeezing in a run, I can't wait to come home, put on my pjs and just enjoy being in my home.

Last night I felt a little lame as I watched a rerun of Oprah and it was all about fashion and 'transforming' yourself and your style and Oprah says, 'if you're sitting around watching this in your sweats and your hair in a bun...'

Sure enough I had my hair pulled back, still wet from my shower and was in yoga pants. I felt ashamed. But just for a moment. I mean I wasn't watch this at 4pm. I had worked all day, run 4 miles and was unwinding. I wasn't leaving the house looking that way. I do listen to Tim Gunn.

So I'm not going to feel too guilty spending so much time at home right now. I'm not turning down social events for this. Life is just slower right now and I'm taking advantage of the time of year when it's ok to be at home more, to be more of a home body.

Weekend Activities

This past weekend, just like most weekends lately, have been packed with activities. They're all good activities but I still wish I had one more day off before going back to work on Mondays.

Two activities that take up a lot of my weekend time are running and volunteering at the Animal Trustees of Austin.

The running part many of you know about. I'm training for the Austin half marathon, which occurs on February 14. I'm raising money for LIVESTRONG (shameless plug: feel free to donate on my fundraising page). I've done one other half marathon (and trained for one full marathon until a certain broken finger incident, which we don't need to recap, happened) but it was 5 years ago. I've decided that a 28 year old body and a 33 year old body don't recover quite as well. It's been awhile since I've run consistently 5x/week, averaging 20+ miles/week but boy am I tired. And hungry. I'm hungry all the time.

I'm so grateful that Kelsey is training with me. She's a bit faster than me so I think we'll do our own thing during the actual event but she's been such a good sport about running at my 10:30 minute pace. It's been fun to get to spend so much time with her and, honestly, I don't know how I would motivate this often without being accountable to her.

Yesterday was a big day. We were supposed to run 9 miles but since the Hike and Bike Trail in Austin is a full 10 mile loop we figured we'd just do that. So we tied our shoes (Kelsey in double knots b/c they always come untied), put on layers and hit the trail. We were both feeling great. The temps were chilly (low 40s) but it was sunny and beautiful out. And then we hit a detour. Part of the trail was closed for some reason so we had to turn around and back track a bit. After running for an hour and 55 minutes (and only walking for 5) we were done! And I was convinced it was more than 10 miles with out little detour. Sure enough it was closer to 11. And I can tell. My knees hurt a bit today and I'm moving a bit slower but I'm so proud of us. It's hard to imagine at the time how I'd run 2 more miles for the half marathon but I know I can. And we have five more weeks to train for it. I can't thank Kelsey enough for her time, patience and support.

So on top of running each day of the weekend, I volunteer every Saturday at the Animal Trustees of Austin. They are a non-profit vet clinic in Austin that offers low-cost vet care for cats and dogs. They do great work and are a well respected organization in Austin. When Max died last year one of my colleagues donated to the ATA in Max's name. I wasn't familiar with them so I checked them out a bit and was impressed. Then a few months later when I adopted Buster, I had his leg surgery there b/c the rescue group I got him from only worked with them.

They treated Buster so well so, again, I was impressed. This summer I started thinking about volunteering on a regular basis. Doing something for my community outside of the cancer world. This seemed like a natural fit. So in September I took a tour, met with the volunteer coordinator and I love it. Every Saturday they run a low-cost spay/neuter clinic and I process check out when people come to pick up their pets. It's the perfect balance of working with people and getting to spend time with the animals. I knew I wasn't ready to see anything tragic or take care of the animals based on Max's experience but I feel like this is my way of helping others and maybe even helping the other Max's of the world. I like to think he'd be proud of me.

So in between working, home projects and socializing with friends, volunteering and running keep me busy. I'll admit that I'll be happy when the half marathon is over with and I can run only 2-3x/week. In the meantime, I'll continue to eat pretty much everything in sight.

Forgetfulness

Lately I can't seem to remember anything. Clearly you saw what happened when I went to the grocery store this week.

Unless I right something down and then basically put that note in a place where I can't miss it, I'll forget something. Some things you'd think you'd learn to do more subconsciously but I think as I get older and have more and more to remember that doesn't happen as often.

We're also currently in a Mercury retrograde. For those of you non-astrology people out there, my colleague and friend, Lee, told me all about this. It occurs 4x/year and things go haywire. Computer problems happen, car accidents occur with more frequency and overall communication is poor. I've definitely seen this occur this week. First, I had a virus on my computer on Monday (thanks to LAF's IT team it has been fixed). And, when I looked back, I realized my flat tire also occurred during the retrograde (yes, they last 4 weeks each time).

And then on Friday, I went to work early to run. Because while Kelsey and I have been fully dedicated to sticking with our training schedule, even 20 degrees is too cold for me to run outside. We're lucky that we have 2 treadmills at work so we can run together, at our own pace, and still enjoy each other's company (and the Today show on the big screen TV). So we finish our run and I realize I've not only left my change of shoes at home, I also didn't pack underwear.

Thank goodness I only live 7 minutes away but geez when will my forgetfulness end?

On a good note, I had a very successful Ikea trip today and bought 2 stools for my kitchen table, some fabric to make curtains out of, a shelving unit for my bathroom and a new duvet cover and blanket for my bed. I can't wait to sleep tonight in my cozy bed, which is a good thing b/c it's supposed to be 18 degrees again.

So for those of you who also suffer from forget fullness and overall think that things have felt wacky lately, well blame it on the retrograde. That works for me. At least until it ends next week.

Being a Texan

Living in Texas means a lot of things. A lot of things I never thought I'd be but I am. A lot of things I never thought I'd do but I find myself doing all the time. This includes:

1. Saying y'all
2. Owning and wearing cowboy boots
3. Eating breakfast tacos instead of breakfast sandwiches or bagels
4. Getting chilled when it drops below 60 degrees
5. Preferring Shiner beer over Miller Lite
6. Bragging about how big the Texas capital is and getting defensive when people forget that Austin is the capital
7. Buying a home in Texas
8. Exercising more in the winter
9. Rationalizing that 90 degrees is a cold front
10. Calling the Gulf a beach
11. Driving everywhere b/c that's your only option to get around

But more than anything else, when you live in Austin, you love UT. For any of you who watch Friday Night Lights or any other movie about Texas (Varsity Blues), you know that football is huge in this state. Everything from pee-wee football to high school to college. It seems that professional football isn't a big deal but from August to January (in years when Texas is good) the city is a sea of burnt orange. I used to live in walking distance of the stadium and had to alter my route on Saturdays (even when it was an away game) because of all the tailgating.

So tonight is the National Championship. Texas vs. Alabama. I'll admit, I'm a bit torn. I've been to some UT games and my brother and sister in law went to law school there and pretty much everyone I know in Austin went there for undergrad. But then there's my dear friend, Haley.....

Haley is from Alabama. She went there for college and grad school and her family still lives there and she's getting married there this summer. She has an adorable southern accent and for someone who claims they aren't competitive, when it comes to college football, she's feisty.

She's been living in a city that pretty much hates her for the past few weeks so in my spirit of often rooting for the underdog, I'm rooting for Alabama tonight. Maybe I won't every time and maybe I'll look back one day and modify the list above to add 'root for Texas football and Texas only'. But until them, 'Roll Tide Roll'. Or something like that.....

p.s. To all my UT loving friends, please don't hate me. When you're a Red Sox fan you learn to take a lot of crap so I can take it.

Grocery Store Bust

I finally decided to go to the grocery store tonight. After weeks of eating out and/or eating poorly I made a list of dinners I could make and healthy snacks I could have around the house. And I was off.....

A few things went wrong:

1. I forgot my list. sigh.
2. I was starving while there so I wanted to buy pretty much everything that (most likely) wasn't on my list.
3. I left my reusable bags in my car.

So despite my best intentions, I ended up with unhealthy snacks (chocolate chip cookies) and really nothing that actually equates to a meal. At one point I looked in my shopping cart and thought what a sad spectacle it was. In case anyone at the grocery store didn't already suspect I was single, if they looked in my cart, it would have certainly been confirmed. The items in my cart included:

2 bottles of wine
tortillas
cheese
chocolate chip cookies
bananas
bacon
coffee

And that about sums it up. I came home, heated up a frozen pizza, had a glass of wine and am calling it a day. Buster's pooped from doggy daycare and I'm tired from being an adult.

My Christmas Vacation - Part 2

It's day 2 back at work and while yesterday was a bit of a struggle (i.e. I wondered where my afternoon nap and cocktails went), today I felt much more on track. I was productive and really enjoyed my day. I love my job and am reminded of that all the time. It feels good to work in a place where I respect my colleagues and admire the work we all do. But I digress.....

Yesterday (admittedly a few days late) I reviewed my 2009 resolutions. I was so pleased to see that I'd accomplished them.

1. Run a further distance than a 5k. I ran 2 10Ks and a 5 mile race in 2009 so I think I knocked that one out of the park. And I'm training for 2 half marathons this year.

2. Do more crossword puzzles. Okay, so maybe this was vague but I know I did more.....

3. Swim more. Okay, vague, too, but I did have specific swimming goals this summer (thanks to coach Devon) that I accomplished including swimming a consecutive mile, so I think that counts.

So what about 2010? Here's what I came up with:

1. Complete 1 housing project/month

2. Get pet insurance for Buster (once I have it I probably won't need it but better safe then sorry)

3. Actively pursue long-term, healthy relationships with men (I clarify the gender b/c I'm pretty successful in my female friendships)

Yes, friends and family, you heard me right. I'm putting it out there. My life is pretty well in order and while I'm very happy, I admit that I do want to find a life long partner. So where to begin. I promise not to turn this into a dating blog (I can't do that to my parents) but want you all to know that I'm open to being set up, etc. One rule of thumb (thanks to Devon, again), we have to have more in common than just being single. Email me if you want more details.....

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy life, my adorable niece and dog and look back fondly on my holidays and visit from friends. Some highlights follow.

Buster's first snow (he's a bit camouflaged but I promise he's there):

Lucie's first snow:

Who can resist this face?

She doesn't really want to be held right now but she's still adorable! Lucie and I had so much fun with grandma, despite the wind and freezing temps.

Buster had a friend, Murray, come to visit. Sadly, I took no pictures of Murray's parents, Leslie and Scott, who were also here. But boy was Buster happy when I went back to work and he could go back to sleeping 10 hours/day.

My new kitchen table! Stools to come soon.....Thanks to Jim, Devon and Kelsey for helping to build it.

My new sofa table. I'm happy to have a place to hold my cookbooks. Thanks to Scott for assembling it.