It’s 2008 people, and that means it’s time for me to update the linkage in the sidebar. Both Ross and I are continuing with the Picture a Day series, so I’ve updated those on the left. Also, there is a new link to the running/training for the half marathon blog. Check it out if you want. It’s sort of boring, but if you’re at all interested in me or anyone I know, and when or why we run, then it might be of interest to you.

I think this will be the funniest thing I see all day.

I got elfed.

“When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be — I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought or grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

Wendell Berry

Gym guy and I haven’t seen much of each other in the past few weeks. Ever since I told him I was interested in someone else, even though I really wasn’t, it was just the ONLY way to get him off my back…Even when I told him straight off I wasn’t interested in HIM.

Anyway, today it took all I had to drag myself to the gym. I walk in, and low and behold there he is, doing sit ups. Polite nod & smile. I figured he’d be gone by the time I changed clothes, but oh no! I started doing some weights and then he came up right next to me and started getting some paper towels. Hmm…teensy bit awkward…I felt a “hello” was in order. I congratulated him on his first 5k he had recently done. We talked a little about his time, because he had a great pace, and really…I was a little jealous.

He then asks me if I have anything special planned for Halloween. It’s pretty obvious he’s really asking me if I’m actually dating someone. But, really, I can’t just blurt that out, can I? So, I say, not really and then I make the mistake of being nice and ask him if he has plans.

“Well, yeah. I mean, actually it’s my girlfriend. Well, my girlfriend’s friends. They want us to come to a party. In MONTANA.”

Okay, so it’s obvious you have a girlfriend. And, you’re driving to MONTANA for a Halloween party?? And then of course I had to ask if he was dressing up.

“Well, I was going to be a Pirate, but my girlfriend wants us to do a couple theme. I’m going as Caesar and my girlfriend is going to be Cleopatra. I’m going to feel a little weird, but my girlfriend will be with me and we’ll be in a bar.”

Okay, so it’s still obvious that you have a girlfriend. And, you’re driving to MONTANA to sit in a bar on Halloween?

“Yeah, are you dressing up or anything?”

Clearly he’s trying to clarify that I am in fact NOT dating someone. I just said no. I should have said, well if I WAS dating someone, and for the record, I AM dating someone, I would sure as hell would NOT be dressing up in a couple theme.

So anyway, the conversation manages to continue.

“yeah…work…girlfriend…so busy…girlfriend…feeling sick…girlfriend…”

He then asks me if I’m doing the Seattle marathon in November and I brighten up and think it’s my chance to rub it in, so I say “Well, NO! But, the guy I’ve recently begun dating, boyfriend, um…FRIEND is doing it!” Crap…I had my chance and couldn’t even say it. I couldn’t be THAT girl. He would have thought I was lying to compete with him.

The conversation basically ended there, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that for a split second I thought of running out the door after him yelling, “I’M DATING SOMEONE NOW… AND WOULD YOU LIKE TO DOUBLE DATE WITH US AND BE IN AWE OF HOW FUNNY AND AWESOME THE TWO OF US ARE?!!”

I’m going to go break down a freakin’ Berlin sized wall.

Scared outta my mind.

Here’s to taking chances.

Bleh.

Weddings are a lot of work. Mom is getting married in just over 2 weeks and I’m so flipping sick of wedding stuff. Being the gracious & supportive daughter that I am, I’ve been helping her as much as possible with invitations and favors and decorations and everything else. I’m also working on several surprise projects for her that are consuming much of my time and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think I’m tired of crafting! I want my pre-wedding life back! But, really, I am glad to be helping. *sigh*

I really am excited to be going home. I need a “vacation.” I need some time away from my job and pretend that I don’t have any responsibilities or an every day adult life. And, you know, I’ll admit it, I’m looking forward to watching the latest installment of “Monster Bucks” with Phil. I pretend not to like it, but really, I do. I’m looking forward to eating things that don’t come out of a box and sit in the microwave for 2′38″. I bet the Schwan’s man will stop by too. Oh, yeah, that’d be good. It’s so weird that his delivery day just happens to be during the time I’m home. It never fails. It’s kismet. I also need to continue to run everyday, because dammit, I do not want to gain 10 pounds like every other time I’m home. I curse you, weak willpower.

Right now I’m in the final days of an intense running competition, which means I’m basically in a constant state of pain and fatigue because I will not go down without a fight. As I was on the couch, willing my legs to move, I remembered that one year ago today I was in Maui. It was, and still is, one of the most amazing places I had ever been in my entire life. I went through the pictures again to try to re-live the way I felt, but it obviously wasn’t the same. It did, however, get me thinking about how time really does fly, and how the years seem to go by more swiftly as I get older.

I turned 26 recently, and while the 26th year seems to be pretty unimportant, I think about the last 10 years that have brought me to this point. I came across a picture from my 16th surprise birthday party, and I amazed at where my life is now. I suppose most people could say that, because from 16 to 26 you tend to change a lot.

My parents divorced 1 year later. It was awful and unexpected, but my relationships with them, especially my dad, have grown by leaps and bounds. I’ve lost 75 pounds. I got out of that tiny town and moved half way across the country and have made a real, honest to goodness life for myself here in Seattle. I’ve competed in a triathlon. I finally had my first kiss. I’ve been on a plane. I look better without bangs. I have felt the waves of the ocean crash over me. I still haven’t been in love, and I think my 16 year old self would be a little surprised by that…but my 26 year old self is okay with that. I’ve seen my passion for creativity grow into a love/talent for photography and crafting. I can run a mile…without stopping. I’ve experienced true friendship. I can now honestly say that I am content and happy with my life, but back then I remember being so unsure about everything.

There’s a part of me that wishes I could have told my 16 year old self these things would happen in my life. Like it would give me a feeling of hope and excitement for what is to come. But, I guess it wouldn’t make them all that exciting when they finally happened. I’m looking forward to what happens in my next 10 years. I do hope winning this competition is one of those things…

A few days ago Heids and I were talking about something that I don’t remember and in the course of our conversation American Gladiators came up and I stopped in my tracks and thought, OH MY GOSH, I loved American Gladiators. I completely forgot about that show. I remember rearranging my schedule (which was not difficult) to watch it, and being disappointed when there were new people. Or…I can’t remember what really happened, did they change the format of it at some point? I just remember being the same amount upset at them as I was when Bo & Luke were replaced with their “cousins” during that one season of Dukes of Hazzard. Annnnyway. It’s been on my mind now, and had been wondering if it was available on DVD or anything and then all of a sudden I’m reading some fluff news and see this article. I’m so happy! It will obviously be nowhere near as good as the original, and in fact, I’ll probably hate it the way I hate most re-made things, but there is part of me that still has a twinge of hope that it will be worth watching.

I just had one of the most unusual calls.
“Blah, blah, blah, charity, you’ve been arrested and we’re serving you papers to lock you up at a local downtown restaurant for a day to help raise money for a charity. The person that ratted you out said you were caring and compassionate and would be a good fit for jail. The firefighters will come pick you up and once you’ve served your time and raised enough money for charity they will drop you off.”

I was kind of confused the entire conversation. Caring and compassionate my ass, I had to politely decline as I couldn’t just miss an entire day of work, even if it were charity, and Lord knows how long it would have taken me to raise enough money. So then I went ahead and gave them the name and number of someone I think would be a good fit for charity jail. I was extremely tempted to ask if the Firefighters could still come pick me up and drive me around for a while.

Well, gym guy has proven to be extra pushy. I saw him at the gym and tried to avoid eye contact with him until the last possible moment and then I agreed to go to the movies with him sometime this weekend. I can’t help it. Since then he basically invited himself to a Vikings game I may or may not be going to, and also, do I know if there’s any room on the dock for him to put his 18′ sport boat? gag.

Our offices are in the retail spaces of an apartment complex, and one of the perks of my job is that I get to use the gym that the residents have.

For the past 2 months I’ve been trying to go to the gym on my lunch break as frequently as possible to work out. It’s pretty much a perfect set up because it saves me some time after work, and most of the residents have jobs, and I’m usually the only one in there.

About a month ago, I started to to notice that this guy was in there usually around the same time I was. A coincidence, I figured. We never actually talked to each other because I guess we were in the zone, and besides, I don’t really like making small talk when I’m all sweaty and in the middle of lunges. About a week and a half ago I had just finished running and was about to head to the showers when he came in. I asked him if he wanted me to turn off the TV. If I’m the only one in there, I’ll usually turn on CMT, because who doesn’t love CMT? Anyway, he said no, that’s fine and that was the gist of our conversation.

So last week I went in to the gym and was changing and heard the TV kick on. When I walked out CMT was on and he was working out. How considerate, huh? So I had finished up working out and of course he was in there and as I was walking out I gave him the slight head nod and polite, no teeth smile. That apparently opened the floodgates for him.  He blurted out, “Your perfume smells so nice!!” Well, of course it does, I thought, it’s Frozen Daiquiri. So then I introduced myself and so did he and I said, “well it looks like we’re unspoken workout buddies, huh?” So we chatted a smidge more and then I went back to work.

Later that evening I got a message on Myspace. The subject line, “Are you my workout buddy, Shelly?” Whaaaaat. He didn’t have my last name, so I guess he did a generic “Shelly” search in the greater Seattle area. I’m not going to lie, I thought it was a little weird. Why couldn’t he just wait til the next day in the gym to talk to me? I guess he was a little antsy. So, anyway, in his email he told me he was probably going to be taking some vacation time at work that next afternoon so he could workout. Um…what! Extreme. I didn’t end up going to the gym the next day because work was crazy (and I didn’t really want to see him), but he emailed me and said he had an intense workout. So, since Friday he’s asked me out twice, and thankfully I’ve been sick so I’ve had to turn him down. Once I’m feeling better I feel like I should probably hang out with him at least once, because he does seem generally nice, if a little persistent.

I’m not going to lie when I say I’m a little nervous to go to the gym on lunch. Now if he’s in there it’s going to be all weird and I’m going to feel like I need to talk to him and  I’ll be a little self conscious, because is he staring at my fat roll as I’m lifting this weight?