Blinded By The Light

Oh, it's been a mighty fine week!

On Monday, our accountant returned our income tax return - and we got a whole $32 refund! Great news for us since we've had to PAY extra the past couple of years. (I'm only whining a little. We're truly blessed to be surviving this economic crisis in good financial, physical, and personal health.)

Tuesday night, I completed a tempo run on the track in a really decent time - and should be back in shape and ready for the Riverwalk 5Mile run in two weeks. I also finished Week 2 of my 100 pushups a day and 200 situps a day routine, and included 50/50s on the stair stepper, too!

Wednesday morning, Gianni confirmed he had to attend a 4-day conference in Charlotte the first week of May. I told him that I would go with him; we thought we'd travel the weekend before and explore the area. During his meetings, I figured I could find something to do; at least it would be a mini-vacation for us. (But I wasn't really looking forward to the trip.)

You see, I really want to visit my sister at The 7MSN sometime this spring. (And I will get there! I need to ride Hank, pet Deets, help trim Wynonna's toenails, and watch Alan and George proudly pull their little cart!) Or I thought maybe I'd travel up to D.C. and see Tracey and Alex, see the Cherry Blossoms, try to fit in some sightseeing while playing with my dive buddies, and run a 5K or 10K race. But alas, no races in the area that I could find. And Gianni really wanted me to go with him to Charlotte.

But Thursday and Friday I had IT meetings at City Hall. Unemployment is high; the economy is down. Yet there I was yesterday, writing paperwork to (maybe) promote myself into a new position. I became addicted to GIS software (Google Earth was only a start) at the PD two years ago when I started mapping out our city grids for a dispatch map. Now the PD may create a new position, GIS Analyst for Public Safety. And I was asked to write up the details because my great bosses/friends, Donna and Nancy, want me for the job. Yeah and Tee-Hee!

So, on a whim, I checked out The Boss' website, hoping maybe he was playing in D.C. or Albuquerque so I could use that as another reason to travel this spring or summer. Guess what? Bruce is in concert at a smallish stadium in Greensboro, NC (about 92 miles north of Charlotte) on the weekend before Gianni's business trip.

And we have 2 tix to the Bruce Springsteen concert in Greensboro on Saturday, May 5! More later on why Bruce is definitely The Boss. But, if you saw him and E Street perform at Super Bowl halftime, you already know that.

I've been so excited since I got the tickets I've been "Blinded by the Light." All you need to do is check out the lyrics and melody to this song - the first one by Bruce that I ever heard. It made me appreciate his genius - way back in 1973 - when he released it. I've been a fan ever since.

A Little Help From Your Friends

You know it: That line from "Field of Dreams?"
If they see it, they will come.

So if I put it in words and photos --
TODAY I WILL RUN --
Maybe I will actually do it. I hope these photos from Disney will inspire me.

Above, the FINISH. At right, I was running back down Main Street - about 7 miles into the race. A time when I was not feeling well either: only halfway through the race and "dying" - at least in my head. What was I thinking? Running a Half Marathon alone. Not a good idea. Never again. The only way to do something this hard is to do it with someone else, sharing the experience.

It's been one week since my last post - and I still don't feel well! Of course, I finally went back to work on Monday: I had to help Donna and Nancy with a huge PowerPoint presentation and records management training session for our Field Training Officers this week. It probably didn't help that I worked 9 and 10-hour days early during the week, and then had to babysit whining cops yesterday (a few of them really needed a slap across the face!). But Donna and Nancy, as I have said before, are not my "bosses" - they are my friends. We make such a good team when we work together: it's almost not work.

How do people do it when they are sick and alone? These past few weeks have been miserable: no energy to do anything except lay on the couch and sleep (not even much enthusiasm for watching TV.) And with Gianni sick the past week, too, our house has an aura of sickness and doom. Thank goodness Micio Bello finally seems better. Just what I wanted: a new cat. But he "hates" me because I've been catching him and giving him medicine the past 6 weeks. At least he has become Gianni's shadow.

Wait a minute. Friends. That's what I'm supposed to be writing about. OK. I'll do that tomorrow -- Alex, and Tracey, and Linda.
As usual, I'm off on a tangent. Since starting this post, I have: 1) gone to the doctor (again) with Gianni so he could get a work excuse note; 2) shopped at Target for a warm humidifier/vaporizer with Vicks inserts for our colds; 3) downloaded and edited my photos from Disney; and 4) fixed Gianni's computer errors. Am I any closer to getting out the door and running??? No.

Gotta do it. Gotta run. My FINISH certificate for more inspiration. I really did do good - especially the "85 of 363" in my Age Division place.
Not bad for an "older" lady.

Here I go. Here I am, gearing up.
Here I am: walking out the door with my iPod and Garmin.
Here I am, walking in the driveway.
Here I go. Really.
I AM GOING TO RUN. Soon.

Giggling at Work; Men and Their Little Brains

My bosses, Donna and Nancy (and quite a few of the uniformed guys), at the PD think I'm just a little bit wacky, but they're enjoying the fun, nevertheless. And I've been having such fun the past few days, I've been walking around giggling in the halls.

We're finally moving a whole lot of people off of the first floor in the station so we can complete reconstruction of our building. MEN. Of course, they never asked us WOMEN -- who know how to be organized, and know what needs to be done -- how to do anything. We just have to clean up the mess they make. It wasn't too much problem moving people, desks, computers. But it's been a nightmare trying to move 30 years of case-related property that is evidence: it must be controlled tightly for chain-of-custody in court purposes. filing cabinets, boxes, bags, bikes, computers, tools, miscellaneous "stuff"; and then, of course, Valuables: drugs, money, jewelry.

There we were today, moving property in the rain and humidity: filing cabinets, boxes, bags, bikes, computers, tools, miscellaneous "stuff". And then, of course, Valuables: drugs, money, jewelry. Now June is the start of the rain and hurricane season in Florida; you think the guys would have thought about that first when asking us to move now! And we were trying to fit all this evidence into railroad cargo containers -- and coming up short because the MEN had not ordered enough of them (even though we had asked them to); and onto shelves that were being built by the MEN as we moved the evidence (because they wouldn't believe us when we told them several times in the last few months that we would need more shelves). Sheesh.

Anyway. I was trying to help this endeavor and designed a spreadsheet containing all our evidence (26,000 lines that I cleaned up to 856!) and several maps for our Property ladies to use in locating evidence while they are living in/working out of these lovely railroad cars for the next year. The map is so cool! I drew all these shelves, numbered all the evidence boxes, inserted drawings for all the bikes, computers, bags, and other stuff -- and then, tonight, inserted little pictures of women inside the railroad cars.

Silly stuff. Giggling at work. Got to do something when the men drive you crazy with their testosterone! But my bosses, Donna and Nancy, love it. And I know, one day, these same guys will be looking at my spreadsheet and map, saying, "We could have done it better." Because they're always thinking with their little brains.

En *courage* ment

It means so much. To have someone Encourage me. I had been unsuccessful in thinking of a good way to start my "E" week until I ran my second 5K race Sunday morning in nearby Central Park. I'm going to need 10 months of en-COURAGE-ment to meet my new goal. Disney Half Marathon, January 10, 2009, 6:00 a.m.

(What I'm really going to need is a kick in the ass to get out of bed at "0-dark:thirty" so that I can be on the race course! I am a NIGHT runner. Oh, wait. I will be running in the dark; I just won't go to bed on Friday night!)

Sunday, I ran the 5K for a great cause, "C.O.P.S." I pick my races carefully, and this one was appropriate since it benefited an organization that honors the fatal sacrifices made by cops and their families. Of course, I didn't get any encouragement from guys on the Plantation PD team; they were too much into competing with each other to even notice I was on the course. Sheesh.

But, rounding the last bend on the lake in Central Park, just before entering the track for a final lap, I was greeted by one lone woman, about my age, who was standing there clapping loudly and shouting out my race number, yelling, "Way to go 84. Looking good! Keep going." Her encouragement meant so much to me. I was still feeling pretty strong at that point and knew I would finish the race. Yet having someone acknowledge my efforts motivated me to run even harder. I finished the race at a pace that was 30 seconds faster per minute than my first 5K just three weeks ago; I did not get injured; and I ran the entire race. I'm proud. (Even came in ahead of some of the PD guys!)

There have been a lot of people in my life who have encouraged and motivated me. This month, especially, En *courage* ment seems to be a theme. A salute herewith to:

• Dr. Frank and his veterinary staff at 9 Lives Cat Hospital for saving and taking such good care of Pooper cat.
• All my on-line Weight Watchers forum friends on the "Been There, Done That" Maintenance Board. A wonderful sisterhood of women struggling with life, families, jobs, and (oh, yes!) weight issues.
• Donna and Nancy: two of the most inspirational, motivational, and genuinely KIND women I know; they are much more than my "bosses" - they are friends.
• Mom and Dad: who have encouraged me in EVERYTHING I do.
  
• Diane: My Amrit yoga teacher, who gently reminds me every week to "be in the moment" and just accept myself for who I am, with no criticism, no judgment (and who allows me to stand on my head in class whenever students are doing other things.)
• Gianni. Always Gianni. He constantly tells me that I am, "THE BEST PIP". But I can never hear it enough. I know that he'll be standing somewhere among the masses at the Finish Line in Epcot next January when I come across the line at Disney - especially since he'll be the one kicking my butt out of bed to be there. That is enough en-COURAGE-ment for me.
  

Competency

I am working with two of the nicest women it has ever been my pleasure to know, Donna and Nancy. I say "working with," rather than "working for," because we are peers -- even though (technically) they are my supervisors: Donna in the Records Division, Nancy in the I/T Division.

Nancy and I have been commiserating about incompetency for the last several weeks. One of our co-workers has simply NOT been doing his job, and now I am tasked with trying to recreate computer property inventories from non-existent paper records, antiquated spreadsheets, and totally bizarre notes. I'm driving myself crazy in my anal retentiveness to locate and identify every piece of property we have acquired. And, of course, now I have to discretely contact internal affairs because some of the property is "missing."

What has Nancy really distressed -- and me totally p.o.'d about -- is the government (or lack thereof) in Haiti. Poor Nancy has been trying to deal with the Embassy there. What a nightmare! I love to travel, and especially love the Caribbean, but you'll never see Haiti on my list of "places to see."


On the other hand, I've been enjoying lively email chats with Bill Tewes, the model picture of competency, and owner of Dive St. Vincent about a possible dive vacation in May 2008 with Gianni and friends to St. Vincent, including a return trip to Bequia -- which is on my MUST SEE places.

Yet sometimes I get tired of being so stinking competent. I have the best intentions; I try to think of everyone when making my choices; I encourage others to be part of my decisions. And then I ultimately make the decisions anyway. Distress and Disappointment.