I'm Tired

I'm tired of people asking about my love life, as I don't have one. I actually haven't thought about dating for a good 4 or 5 months now. I took myself off all the online boards - it's all the same pathetic losers (myself included). I guarantee if I went back online I would see the same schmucks out there that I have seen for the last 6 years.

I've been so focused on the new job, school and now tennis, that I haven't even had a chance to think about dating. I need to win the lottery, then I would have time to devote to dating - which is the equivalent of a full time job. I think I'm just going to own my singleness for a few more years...besides, I'm tired.

In spite of my being sad about trading Suzy in for Martha, it's been the best decision. This past week (and it's not even over yet) I have spent at least one way of my daily commute to work stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Martha has made my life so much easier.

Tennis Anyone?

I am not athletic. Growing up, I took ballet, tap and jazz or gymnastics or cheerleading. Anything under the guise of the activity being fun and as far from hard work as possible. Not to say that any of those activities weren't hard work, but they never felt like hard work and if they did I quit. That's right, I am a quitter. I have only played sports 3 times in my life. 1. 8 years old, soccer. I played goalie and basically picked flowers in the goal box. 2. 10 years old, softball. I played left field because none of the girls our age could hit that far. 3. 15 years old, soccer yet again, only made the varsity team because they could take all the girls who tried out. I tried out for volleyball and didn't make the cut that same year. I hated every blessed minute of soccer. I hate running - have always hated running.

So it came as a complete surprise to those close to me, much less to me as well, that at the age of 35, I have decided to learn how to play tennis. I asked a couple of friends if they wanted to take lessons with me and one said yes. I missed the first class so I was worried I would be behind. I show up on the courts and my teacher is so nice and has such high energy and low and behold, everyone sucks and I fit right in. But, the best part is the lesson was so much FUN! I sweat my ass off for an hour and a half and all I thought about for that time was smacking that damn yellow ball. She makes us do drills, we play games, and I am actually hitting the ball - well, for the most part.

My lessons are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Last Thursday, essentially my third lesson, my instructor tells us about a free tennis clinic being held on Saturday taught by former US Women's professional Tracy Austin. It's a Cardio Tennis clinic. Why is it called a clinic? Anyone? So, my instructor says they need beginners at the clinic. I'm like, do they need beginners or beginner beginners? She said they really wanted people new to the sport...so I signed up.

I get there on Saturday, and of course I get there early. I get put in a beginner group and they've asked me (and others) to wear heart monitors. So we played games and ran drills and it was fun. It was tough, and I was dragging ass at the end, but everyone was really kind and made me feel good. Unfortunately, my heart monitor didn't work properly, so I wasn't able to see how many calories I burned, but I swear it had to have been close to 1,000. Tracy moved from court to court occasionally playing with each group - which was pretty cool to be in a pseudo doubles scenario with a tennis pro. Then we got to watch her play with our instructors and do some Q&A. She is TINY! And looks exactly the same as she did when she first won her grand slam at the age of 16.

More than just cardio tennis was learned by me. I learned that sunscreen and a hat or visor is a must and I need to start carrying that in the car as I am now sunburned. I learned that I need to invest in some tennis apparel as yoga pants and a t-shirt are way too fricking hot to wear in the heat of the day on a tennis court running for an hour.

I am officially hooked. I am going to continue my bi-weekly lessons, the courts I go to are outside and supposedly lessons can go through October - weather permitting. Then, I'll have to figure out indoor opportunities. I went out this weekend and bought a racket and two outfits. I can't wait for Tuesday!

The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

I have received the lovely cryptic message I have in the title of this blog on more than one occasion from my fortune cookie. Sidenote - shouldn't all fortunes be good by default? Seriously, do I really need more bad news in my life? Back to Confucious say, I think we all try. I think very few people are truly evil and operate with malicious intentions. Therefore, if we all just have good intentions are we going to hell? What if you are on your way to hell because of an ignorant mistake? Understanding that ignorance is no excuse, but doesn't it go towards intent? If I am ignorant of a law and I break it, is that really as bad as if I was aware of the law? Breaking the law, breaking the law! Not that I have broken the law lately, simply a philosophical question.

So my new car is named Martha. But you have to say it "Mwaaa-tha". I used to work with a woman named Martha. She was (I guess I should say is but I really don't know for sure) the cutest little woman. She could do the best New Yawker accent and would call herself "Mwaa-tha". Perhaps that is why I decided to name my car that. Ab-so-effing-lutely.

All Growns Up

I have no idea why I was in such a hurry to grow up. Being an adult is no fun. I am tired of being responsible and dealing with issues - I'm especially tired of dealing with everything by myself. Yesterday I made the very adult decision to trade in my car for a smaller, more efficient, cheaper and automatic car. I loved my car. Suzy, a Nissan Altima SE-R in fire engine red was an awesome car. I had planned on keeping that car for quite some time. However, with my current job, I drive through the downtown area and hit traffic twice a day. Driving a stick shift in heavy traffic gets old really quick. Also, Suzy was classified technically as a sports car...therefore, my insurance was pretty high. She barely fit in my garage and the side mirrors were the kind that don't pop in and out, so if you hit one - say trying to get close to the drive-up ATM, you had to replace it for quite a nice sum of money, we're talking a couple hundred dollars. Also, she didn't do so well in winter weather. Last winter, we got a lot of snow. I was able to work from home quite a bit, so it didn't really matter. Except for the time I had to fly out of town and got stuck on my driveway because we got 3 inches of ice on top of snow. I doubt that I will be allowed to work from home this year, so I was a bit nervous thinking about driving in snow in heavy traffic. Those are the reasons I traded in my Suzy. She was my first new car EVER. I went all out, got every bell and whistle I could. I will miss my heated seats and my 6 CD changer. Sniff...

Now I have Martha, a Honda Civic EX also in red (not by design - it was the only EX they had at the dealership and I wasn't being picky on the color). Martha is a fine car. I am happy she is smaller - my garage has a lot more room. I am happy she is an automatic. There are some interesting nit-picks I'm not happy about: I had to pay to upgrade the rearview mirror to the kind that you don't get blinded by the car behind you at night. The drivers side visor doesn't have a built in garage door opener. Which I didn't even think about until I was about to turn into my driveway with Martha and flipped down the visor (out of habit) to open the garage door only to realize, crap, there is no opener and I have no idea where the real garage door opener is...as well as I didn't have my house keys on me (I know, I'm an idiot). Luckily my SiL's parents were home and they had my keys.

So, I did the right thing. It was the decision I needed to make and should have made. But I will miss Suzy. I loved that car. My first new car ever. It's not fun being an adult.

Mawmaw & Pawpaw

I apologize to anyone who actually cares about my blog for being so long between posts. My Pawpaw (grandfather to you Yankees) passed away last week. My poor Mom found him collapsed in his house from a stroke. We were blessed that he went quickly as since this happened, I have heard so many stories from friends whose grandparent had a stroke and they ended up on life support in some nursing home for 10 years or so. Not a way that Pawpaw or frankly anyone I know would want to live out the rest of their life. He was very independent and that is why this was so shocking to everyone. I was there in March to visit and yes he was a bit frailer but still the same old grumpy guy. Still driving (at night even!), full head of hair (silver streaked), and just recently had to get reading glasses at the age of 83! After my Mawmaw (grandmother to you Yankees) passed away, he was at one point dating 3 women at once!!!! Talk about a social life I can only aspire to!

I was very fortunate to have been able to get to know both of them as an adult. When my brother and I were growing up, we were military brats and lived all over the world. We only saw our grandparents every couple of summers for a week or so. After my contract ended in Japan, I moved back to the States and lived with my Mom for about 6 months while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life (still working on it). While with my Mom, I spent a lot of time with Mawmaw and Pawpaw. I cherish that time I had with them and worked hard to maintain a relationship when I moved away. After Mawmaw passed away, we got Pawpaw a computer. And while he mostly just sent out a ton of forwards, we did email pretty regularly. I would call for the important days like his birthday and we always went for at least one meal together when I would go back to visit Mom.

He had some great stories to tell, if you could get him talking and if you could get him to tell a new one. :) But what I loved most about him was the relationship he had with my Mawmaw. 56 years of marriage and they were still very much in love. He couldn't walk past her without touching her in some way: a kiss, a pat. She always acted like she was tolerating his affection, but that was all for show. I envied their relationship and understood how lucky they were to have it. Not only did they have each other for so many years, but they had friends for more. I met a man who went to Kindergarten with my Pawpaw at his memorial service! They had been friends since they were 6 years old! I can't remember where we lived when I was 6 much less what the name of my so-called best friend was at the time.

I feel the most sorry for my Mom. As she says, she is not ready to be an orphan yet. But we all take heart that Mawmaw and Pawpaw are together again, more than likely square dancing and going rodeoing with their best friends. I miss them both very much.

"A" is for Accounting!

I GOT AN "A"!!!! I managed to pull off an "A" in accounting!!! Woot Woot! I'm so excited! I was only slightly below the class average on the final exam but still managed to get a 94 in the class! Yay me! I don't think you can achieve any type of honor as an MBA graduate such as magna cum laude or summa cum laude, etc., however, I am determined to graduate with a 4.0. I mean, I know I'm not attending Duke or Harvard, but still a 4.0 MBA degree would be pretty awesome.

I really wish it was a three day weekend. It's so weird with the 4th falling on a Wednesday. I had planned on taking this coming Friday off had my mom come to visit, but now, I'm not. My only goal this week is to get through the first two modules of my HR class...I like to work ahead. I think it ticks off some of my classmates, but I don't care. I have no idea when I became so competitive...especially about grades. But I want this so bad.