bummer

So today is one of those days that I’m not so happy with my life… both personal and professional.  I just feel really lonely today, which sometimes worries me because I live in a city full of people as I feel like they look through me like cellophane.  But today I got a couple nuggets of not so great news/information and all I want to do is curl up on a couch and just be in the presence of good people.  Problem is I don’t have plans with anyone here and my folks are thousands of miles away… and when I used technology to reach out people were busy (as they should be).

Don’t get me wrong, I know I have great friends here and there, I know I’m well-loved and liked, I know I’m a good person, and anything else positive you think I should be thinking …I get that.  But I also know, way too well, that I have problems expressing my feelings.  Instead I listen and hold my shit inside… so I think, today, this post, is about just that – me saying out loud how I feel, even though it’s not great at the moment, and owning it.  I feel bummed and a little alone… so I’m going to head to ballet (where I’m not going to do any ballet as my knee still hurts from all the walking) but just be around positive people.  I’m always welcomed to drop in there (on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 – haha).

Thanks for listening… I already feel better!  :)

human nature

Any one heard of Human Nature?  …well, they are awesome!  :)  A friend of mine and I went to see them in concert this past Friday – A.MAZ.ING is all I can say!!!  They are a group of four guys from Australia singing Motown classics and apparently were featured in last week’s Dancing with the Stars.  At first that sounds odd but being the good Michigander I am and their amazing voices it was great!  I was definitely dancing in my seat and totally suggest if you are in Vegas or you see them touring near you to go… but try to get an aisle seat (so you have more room to dance!).

take another hit

Just when I thought 2011 and my crap year was over – nope… coming back to haunt me through my taxes.  Apparently my current employer didn’t withhold any state taxes… and as I glanced at my stubs I completely missed it in a year’s worth of paychecks.  I know it sounds so stupid and now I’m screwed and owe DC a lot of money.  UGH! 

good book

I’m hooked on books on ‘tape’!  I still remember the first one… Mom and I were driving across the Mid-West to my cousin’s wedding, so to occupy ourselves we rented (or purchased) Les Miserable on tape (or CD – whatever).  I think we got that because we were going to see the play later that year at the Miller but didn’t know the story.  Well, needless to say, if you know me then you know that is one of my all time favorite musicals!  And I honestly think it might have been because we first listened to the book.  While I’ll never really know that for sure, what I do know is how much I love listening to books on tape.  Therefore, now that I’m again in a commuting role, most mornings I catch up on the news via NPR and most nights I listen to whatever awesome book I have at the time (unless it’s after 7 pm then I’m strictly a Delilah fan all the way).  So I’m writing this because I want to share with you my latest book – it was awesome!!!

Tina Fey wrote a book called Bossypants.  It’s a book about her life and how she got to be who she is… but instead of just a general here is my life this is told in classic, sarcastic, honest Tina Fey style.  Awesome!  Not only does she write the book but she also does the audio reading… it was just really so great I think everyone should listen to it.  And no I’m not being paid or asked to do this, I just sincerely had a great time listen to the book and think everyone should try it out.  So, please, do and let me know what you think. 

Week 1: Lessons Learned

While I announced to the world that I was moving again, I wanted to keep myself accountable via sharing what I’ve been learning along the way.  I figure this way you’ll know if I’m actually walking or not!  So week one lessons learned are classic Chaz mistakes… I was not dressed appropriately!    What we realized is that it’s awfully cold outside, wind whips around and I need to have waaaaaaay more layers on!  Next lesson I learned that in light rain I would like to wear some sort of hat or visor.  While on the warmish days the rain feels good, by the end of the walk I’m just plain annoyed from wiping running water out of my eyes – so hat it is!  Final lesson of the week is that I need more cold weather workout clothes.  Once I finally figured out how many layers I need to wear I soon realized that I kept wearing them over and over and over and over again.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need to have super fancy new flashy clothes, but I’d like enough that I don’t feel like I’m wearing the same clothes all the time - rotation is helpful for wear, tear, and laundry.  Also along the lines of new clothes (but not the rewear - only once) is I need new workout undies, specifically none cotton undies.  So if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know!

So, with that… last week was fairly successful in the walking and I’m glad to state that we both are just plain feeling better.  We even are looking forward to the walk. 

avon walk

Hey there!  So anyone heard of the Avon Breast Cancer walk?  If you have – awesome; if you haven’t – I’m with you.  Either way, a friend of mine convinced me last year that I should join her in the walk… I hemmed and hawed but eventually agreed and signed up.  Well, that was a year ago… 2012 felt so far away!  Needless to say, it is now 2012 and the walk in DC is coming right up (ok, in May so maybe not tomorrow but soon).  We all know how wonderfully my knees like to work so this short little 26.2 miles of walking is not something I will be able to just do… Enter in THE SCHEDULE!

note:  I tried to enter it here for you all to witness but please just pretend you see it…

I have to explain this schedule… now since my knee needs some time working up to this I thought I’d need a plan.  Well, I can get a little overwhelmed when doing the research and in the process of being overwhelmed a friend of mine (different from above said friend) was also talking about how she wanted to start walking/working out again – click! Light bulb goes off!  Not only is she an amazing research/planner extraordinaire, she needs to me to keep her motivated, and she keeps me on schedule to keep me motivated.  This is the worlds biggest win win – amazing we are not in the news!  ;)

Bottom line is that we are loving it, I’m getting Back to the Basics this year, starting to move more and it feels good.  :)  If you want to join us, let me know as we can even do long distance motivation/communication to keep everyone moving.  Oh and in case you were wondering, yes, I’m back in ballet classes!

Traffic

So we all know DC has horrible traffic, but last week we apparently had ‘sunshine delays’ (yes, NPR traffic report called it sunshine delays)?!  Really?!  In DC I have traffic problems for tourists wandering around, rainy days, of course snow days (by snow days I mean about 1/2 inch), and now we get stopped up for sun?  This is not the Mid-West, we have sun fairly often…

Unlike DC, the Mid-West can go for months without seeing the sun… or so it feels like.  Though a couple of years ago I was visiting a friend in the Mid-West and I was following him somewhere – him in one car and me in another.  He pulled off the highway, I pulled off the highway; he turned on a street, I turned on a street; he turned into the parking lot, I turned into the parking lot…. oh wait, we were NOT supposed to be going to this store?!!!  I got out of my car so confused to ask is something wrong, is the car ok, why are we here, change of plans, etc… to my surprise we pulled over to gaze at the double rainbow?!  Haha!!

Welcome to the Mid-West.

Year-End Perspective

I can’t even begin to count the number of times this year I’ve mumbled, “This year sucks.”

The year started with an unexpected job turn over.  While stressful transition, I’m now working as a financial education coordinator for a foreclosure prevention agency.  Thankfully, I work with amazing people both co-workers and clients.

Next, unfortunately, I was with a friend walking home from dinner and we got robbed.  No worry, only our stuff was stolen and we are both totally, completely unharmed and thank goodness for online accounts.  By the time the police arrived we had almost everything notified and/or canceled.  Throughout this incident and the aftermath, my life has weirdly felt like an episode of Law and Order!  Haha!  After the robbery, we had to send various documents to both insurance and detectives, then in the summer there was a line up, then late summer we testified before Grand Jury, and this fall a trial date was set and then postponed.  Can’t you just hear the music and the black screen with date posted on the bottom just like in Law and Order?  To be honest, this is DC, I never in a million years thought that a simple robbery case would get this far – very surreal!

I’ve had plenty of money and health woes throughout, too. Nothing major, but it’s been one thing after another, non-stop, this entire year. Things had finally settled and I realized I now don’t fit into any of my pants.  All that hard work of losing weight and getting into a healthy shape went out the window with all the stress and life transitions.  So now I’m rushing around trying to get into shape and prep my knee before a big marathon walk in May, it’s just not exactly ideal.

There has been so much going on in my personal life I kind of checked out on my blog and friends. I’ve just felt completely overwhelmed by everything I’m dealing with, compounded by holidays, and who cares about blogging, right?  So while I was off licking my wounds, I’m hoping that I’ve kept a good perspective on life.  There’s something humbling about a reality check on life, isn’t there? Sure, I had to get a new job but I have the experience and education to find one in my field that I like.  We survived the robbery with no physical signs. While my income has drastically decreased, I’ve never had to worry about having a roof over my head, clothes on my back or food on my table. Life might not have been smooth this year, and while I’m mourning the loss of my skinnier waistline and less-stress life style, I’m very grateful for the friends and family that continue to be supportive of me – even when I’m MIA or crazy (yes, Mr. that one’s for you).

I’m not sad to see 2011 end. It HAS been rough – really rough. I’ve contemplated the meaning of life hard, cried harder (this coming from Ms. No Feelings), and laughed some. I’ve grown to cherish my friends even more and learned a hard lesson about listening to gut reactions the first time (even when it involves work related situations). I’m ready for 2012 and all the amazing things and new friends/opportunities it has to offer.

I hope you’ll keep coming back to visit as I can’t stay away for too long (back to the basic for 2012 – that includes blogging again)!  So enjoy the holidays and see you in the New Year!

Love ya,

Chasity, Chaz, Chas… or C

2010 in review

Hey there… yes I know it’s been quite awhile and my apologies for that.  However, I’m here, actually never left…life just sort of carried me away.  That being said I’m going to try to get you updated on what’s been going on these past few months without trying to overwhelm you with reading.

Every year I like to do a year in review or my highs and lows to reflect on where I’ve been; keeps me grounded and learning (or at least that’s the hope).  I feel like part way through 2010 was the start of a very stressful time for me – the kick off was McKinley’s untimely death.  :(   As with every low point in our lives, I don’t need to go through and remember how bad I felt (as that’s kind of given) but remember that through that time I had amazing friends/family that came through it with me.      So, for as much I as continually miss my puppy dog there is an element of gratefulness to the support and the stress of the situation being over.   Maybe now I won’t feel so guilty donating my time to walking other dogs or pet sitting or volunteering at an animal shelter?  But then again, if I do that… I’m liable to take home all the animals and become that crazy cat lady?!!!  hahahaha!

My high point of the year would have to be my turning a new decade.  :)   I choose this point, not because it’s a birthday and those are always fun (um, there’s cake) but because this was the moment I looked around my life in DC and realized that I had actually created the all important sought after ‘community.’  Need I say more?  …nopers!  :)

christmas baking

Yes, every year it is a Savage family tradition to bake for our friends and family on Christmas Eve and what we’ve heard is that most of those families look forward to the bags so much each year that they are now planned into the Christmas morning excitement.     How awesome is that?!  To start a tradition that not only you look forward to but the receiver as well – amazing!

That being said, DC is now my home and my community is here… so last year I brought the Savage family baking tradition to my friends.  Granted, it’s not on the 24th (because I’m home in Michigan) but I love the idea all the same.  I will admit the treats are nothing healthy, but definitely a personal favorite and, I think, all were received with big smiles.  So, I’m excited to see how this little piece of my home will continue to carry over as the years pass… stay tuned!

On another note, I cannot talk about Christmas baking traditions without mentioning another good friends’ tradition… mostly because each year I’ve been in DC they have graciously incorporated me into their long-standing baking tradition.  Even better as this started so many years ago with her grandma and has carried over thru the generations however the recipes have maintained the same. 

Of course, in both baking adventures there are many laughs, smiles, flour flying and delicious smells with tasty treats – which is pretty much the recipe for a perfect Christmas tradition in my book!