The Stairs

Have I mentioned that I have stairs in my house? Like a lot of stairs? Like four flights of stairs? Well, I do. And from time to time, I fall down them. Usually it's just down a step or two and I land on my butt. I sprained my ankle once which was pretty bad, but last week really took the cake. I was about to leave for work when I remembered something up in my bedroom. I ran up, got what I needed, and ran back down. That's when it happened. It was like all the elements came together to make the perfect storm...it was dark, my pants were too big and falling down, my shoes were slipping off, my hands were full so I couldn't use the handrail and I was in a hurry. I had only gone down three steps before I went head first, end over end, bounced my way down and slammed into the wall at the bottom. Ka boom! I ended up in whimpering crumpled ball with a sore neck and this bruise on my hip:



Just kidding. That's totally not me. My bruise IS huge and nasty, but I'm too modest to post a picture. Plus, I thought this picture was much more impressive. Actually, this entire blog post is less about me falling down the stairs and more about the disgusting pictures of bruises you can find on the Internet when you're bored and wasting time. So cool!

Fancy House

I got to tour another fancy house last week. I'll have to write more about my experiences when I go to these houses later, but for now I thought I'd share with you just fabulous and fancy this house is. Click here to check it out.

Bay to Breakers 2010

In the Dressing Room

Have you ever found yourself staring at your reflection in a dressing room mirror and wondering is this cute or ugly?* What about is this a shirt or dress? Or where does this strap go? Is this on backward? How am I going to get this over my head? Is this really a medium? Did they design it to look like this? I found myself asking these questions and more while trying on items I had pulled from the clearance racks at JC Penney today. (Yes, I realize there is something wrong with that statement) I probably tried on 15 things and came out with four. And the only reason why I bought them was because they were about $9 each and I just can't pass up deeply discounted clothes. I came away with a $44 tank top for $10 (score!) and the lifelong lesson that things are probably on the clearance rack for a reason.

*I asked this question about a gray striped sailor-type shirt similar to this one. It was really flattering and made me look FABULOUS (if I do say so myself), but it had these funky slits/cut outs running down the sleeves with silver disco ball mirror button things. I can't even describe it. It was totally bizarre. It was basically saying I'm nautical from the front and club wear from the side. I just stared at myself trying to decide if it was cute or ugly. I wondered if it would be possible to wear it and not let people see my arms. But that would mean I would have to wear a jacket or a sweater, which would also cover up the cute part. And, I was worried about thinking it was cute, buying it, then wearing it and realizing that it wasn't cute about halfway through the day and being stuck in it and totally embarrassed that people were looking at me and thinking why would that girl buy that ugly shirt? So, I didn't buy it.

I'm just going to stick with shopping at H&M where all the clothes are purposely designed to be so ugly that they're cute. At least I know that they're supposed to look that way. It makes it a little easier to decide if I like it or not.

Bike to Work Day

Did you notice all the bicyclists on your way to work this morning? That's because today is Bike to Work Day! I was determined to participate last year, but alas...I did not. This year was a different story. I was ready. I marked it on my calendar weeks in advance and even tested out the route on Saturday. (I wanted to see what I was getting myself in to) It's exactly eight miles from my house to work and, depending on how much of a workout I want to get, takes 40 to 45 minutes.

It's actually a pretty easy ride. It's about two miles to the Iron Horse Trail and from there, it's a smooth, flat and peaceful ride with just the sound of chirping birds to keep me company. Too peaceful actually. It was quite boring. Saturday's ride was awesome! There were bikers and runners, three kids who hopped a fence to break in to a public storage facility, a little boy on roller blades who ran me off the trail and almost took me out, two kids climbing up and sliding down a mountain of manure at a construction site, a woman walking a Blood Hound, and seven crows flying overhead harassing a hawk. Today's ride was more like; Dang I'm tired. This is really early to go on a bike ride. Oh look, another bird. Yawn. What's wrong with all these people jogging so early? Am I there yet? I hope the ride home will be more entertaining.

My coworkers, Marcos and Jenna, also rode their bikes this morning. My eight mile ride is totally unimpressive compared to theirs though. Jenna rode 11 miles and Marcos rode 19 miles on a fixed-gear bike. It took him two hours. He's a little nutty like that, but at least he's smart enough to have his wife pick him up after work!

Another coworker took this picture and posted it on our company blog and Facebook pages. I guess that means they're proud of us. Though I'm sure they're secretly thinking we're crazy.

The good thing about my ride today is that I feel accomplished, healthy, proud, and capable of doing things that I wouldn't normally do. The bad thing is that I feel like I have no excuse not to do this again. I mean, before next year's Bike to Work Day. I guess I could do it once in a while. We'll see...

Bumper Stickers

I was walking through the parking lot after work today when I passed a car with a bumper sticker that caught my eye. It said "STOP!" (I paused) and in smaller letters underneath..."Recycle your oil." Huh? That wasn't worth pausing to read let alone stopping for. Now, I get their point. Obviously, they care about the planet and want us to stop and think about what we do with our oil before we just throw it away. But really? You feel so strongly about this issue that you wanted to put a bumper sticker on your car? Do you know the percentage of people who actually change their own oil these days? And of those, don't most recycle it? Do people really dump their oil down the drains anymore?

Either way, it got me thinking about bumper stickers. I'm definitely not a bumper sticker person. Maybe it's because I don't feel passionately enough about something to want to risk my car's paint job. Don't get me wrong, I've seen a few pretty good ones. They're usually humorous ones that I assume were chosen with care. And I don't actually mind the "preachy" ones. (Though don't expect to win me over in the 10 seconds that I'm speeding past you on 680) But it's quite apparent that there are many bumper stickers out there that aren't strategically chosen. Ones that were given out free to someone who thought...Oh cool! Something free! I'll put this on my car right now! One of which I assume was the "recycle your oil" one.

My favorites are the old election stickers. Yes, you supported Obama in '08. Why is that sticker on your car two years later? Either you want to express your continued support for our President, or you just want everyone to know...you were right. Although, even better are the McCain and Palin '08 stickers that are still out there. It's time to give up on that dream. Not only is your support irrelevant, but your opinions are not supported by the majority. You support losers.

Side note to the guy I saw on the freeway yesterday: Bumper stickers are meant for your bumper, not the passenger side door. Don't think you're fooling anyone. You can still see the dent that you're trying to cover up.

I don't know. Maybe someday I'll be the proud parent of an honor student and want to advertise it to the world. But probably not. After a year or two, my kid won't be going to that school anymore so it will quickly become outdated. Maybe someday I'll find a sticker that says "I have no opinions, hobbies or political views." For that...I might actually consider risking my paint job.