2011 October — the Blah Blah Blahger

ON DOING NOTHING

October 31, 2011 By JJ

Sometimes we all need a weekend free of plans, responsibilities, obligations, and burdens. After a long and busy week, they allow us to recharge, find enjoyment in spontaneity, and get the rest that we so desperately need.

On Friday, I only worked for a couple of hours, then attended the funeral of a close family friend. He died at 94 years old, peacefully, and while sleeping. A life well lived…

But with celebrating a life, comes emotional exhaustion. I knew that the day would be sad, but also filled with taking on the sadness of others. My family spent the day together and after spending hours with our dear friends, we were all beat. While I had the opportunity to do something fun with other friends on Friday night, I knew I just didn’t have it in me. I went home, watched some Say Yes to the Dress, and sacked out early and slept like a rock.

On Saturday, I went to a morning spin class (people in costumes AND a full mix of Halloween music – fun!), got my hair dyed, made some returns, did some grocery shopping, cooked a healthy dinner, and again, went to bed early and slept like a rock (11 hours!!!).

On Sunday, I churched, organized, ran errands for my birthday party (NEXT WEEKEND – EEK!), read a book and watched a movie.

It was a good weekend…no, a great weekend.

I had no plans, no chores that needed completing, no photography work that I was behind on, and this free time gave me something back that I had been missing for a while: energy.

It’s funny how doing nothing allows us to reset and feel recharged.

I highly recommend it and hope you had a lovely weekend, too!

BLAHger’s Rants ‘n Raves 1

35 BY 35: #19

October 28, 2011 By JJ

How the heck is my birthday just around the corner, and I’m only on number 19??? This has been a MAJOR undertaking…and I think I was feeling slightly ambitious to start it so late in the year. With that said, you obviously know I won’t be completing or even announcing all of my goals by next Saturday…

OH, WELL.

So, where does that leave us? Oh ya, with numero 19!

#19 – Start jogging or Riding My Bike Once a Week

Now that I’m on the fitness track, I’ve gotten really comfortable with the gym. My workouts with the trainer are awesome and I’m building serious muscle. I’m also back to taking a spin class once a week and am trying to get to dance classes once a week, too. I usually throw in one or two additional workouts. 4-5 times a week is my goal and for the most part, I’m achieving it.

However, now that I’m not in tennis classes any longer, I’m missing my outdoor workouts. Granted, the weather isn’t great right now, but what the heck, this is southern CA. The coldest it is in the morning is 55! Sweats will keep me warm enough for a morning jog or ride!

When Ruthanne was here for Blog Sugar, we jogged two days. A week later, when I was up in Seattle visiting the Gentleman Caller, we went for a jog. Now I trade off my gym warm ups on the elliptical or treadmill. It turns out that even though I hate to run, I might not be all that bad at it.

I also love my bike. I live in a neighborhood that has a perfect and safe four mile loop. I can usually bust out two to three laps in the morning before work without having to get up too much earlier. The ride is an endurance workout (if I’m pushing myself), plus it gives me the chance to see other neighbors starting their day healthily!

Morning workouts are the best. While I LOVE to sleep, I always feel like a rockstar when I’ve gotten a workout out of the way. That allows me to be intentional with friends and family in the evenings, too! This is something that should be pretty easy to incorporate and I can’t wait to develop this goal into a healthy habit!

35 BY 35

DUFFY BOAT SCAVENGER HUNT

October 27, 2011 By JJ

Ya, my job is a pain in the butt, but occasionally, there are awesome perks and fun events! Having been around complainers, I know that it’s just as important to share the good, along with the bad, so today I’m going to share something fun about my company:

We know how to party.

Once a year, we get an email from our HR Director or CEO informing us about an upcoming off-site. I believe back in the days, these were referred to as training, but now they just straight up call them team building. Although, is it really team building when there’s a competition involved? Anyhoo, a couple of weeks ago, the email came.

We were told to meet at a restaurant down by the bay and informed that we would be wearing tshirts that would be distributed and that we could wear casual shoes, jeans or shorts. The casual attire was a dead giveaway…we’re all business, all the time. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were given colorful headbands that indicated the team we’d be on, then we were escorted down to a dock where 7 duffy boats awaited us. They were stocked with bags of goodies and more food and adult beverages than we could handle. I was made a team captain and told to keep my iPhone handy for clues. This was going to be a scavenger hunt.

I happened to be on a team with the CEO and the first thing he asked was if we wanted to win or if we wanted to be obnoxious. Obviously, we chose the latter. When the clues came, we took as much artistic license as possible, tried to kidnap a member of another team, and sent a mayday call to the HR director, informing her she needed to deliver our boat more booze. We also had to build a sand castle. Instead of submitting our actually creation, we emailed this in!

At the end of the day, we all gathered for appetizers (and more drinks). The volume was incredibly loud for such a small group (35 of us). One of my colleagues announced he was going to be a dad and everyone screamed…and in that moment, I realized the team building exercise wasn’t just an excuse to get out of the office and drink, but that it really fulfilled its mission.