Stymied

I just wanted an excuse to write the word "stymie." Really, it's a great word. Plus, I've been trying unsuccessfully to write a decent blog post for two days. So far I've gone through about five titles and managed to write "Dogs are cool. And I'm going to write about them later." That's all. I even stole the above photo from someone else's blog (I couldn't find her name, but it was taken in a rainforest somewhere in British Columbia. I promise not to publish it or pretend it's mine)

Rough times for my intellect, apparently. I've been very busy lately taking great care of my physical health, but it appears that I haven't mastered the art of improving my mental self simultaneously with the bodily self. I just can't write! I have, however, been yoga-ing diligently, I've been to the gym several times, and until I came up here to Seattle, I was eating ridiculously healthy meals (the last two days I've slipped into a routine of hash browns, cups of melted dark chocolate, and Belgian open-faced sandwiches smothered in Gruyere cheese). Even now, up here in the grand Northwest on my mini-vacation, I just finished a grueling 6-mile ride on the stationary bike with an epilogue of several yoga poses and stretches. And right this second I am dutifully puffing away on my nebulizer medication.

So, I got the health part down. Why can't I write anything interesting? I'm in a beautiful city full of brick buildings, racing clouds, happy dogs, coffee shops and huge trees. I should be inspired as hell.

Perhaps I'm not drinking enough good beer. I've only had one since I got up here. Hmmmmm....I do believe that I just identified the root of the problem...

Happy Car, Happy Kathryn

What a goddamn great day I'm having!! And what a change from my last post, eh? It turns out that the antibiotic I was taking for my sinus infection was a major part of my crabbiness of the past week or so. I was not only spectacularly irritable, but I was also experiencing bouts of moderate anxiety, and feeling horribly exhausted to boot. I decided to read the info sheet that came with the medicine (I'd taken it before which is why I didn't do this sooner) and discovered that not only are these all known side effects, but they are listed in the serious side effects category. I stopped taking it that night. My mood is so much improved now it's kinda shocking. I hadn't realized how awful I felt until I stopped taking it--the contrast is truly astounding. I was alternately amusing/annoying people at work on Monday because I was so spazzy-happy and hyper. I'm free!

Today I'm also verging on euphoric, but for non drug-related reasons: I had an awesome workout this morning, I took care of some maintenance on my car, I've gotten a fair amount of chores done already, had a super delicious healthy lunch, and got some quality play time with my adorable cat.

After my morning workout, I took my car in to get an oil change that was desperately needed. The last time I did this was cough9thousandcough cough miles ago. Yipes! So now my car sounds a lot better and I can stop stressing about getting it in to be changed. Plus, the guy who owns the shop I went to was super super friendly and honestly more interested in keeping me as what he called a "customer for life" than making a little more money. I have known for a few months that my tires are getting badly worn, and he noticed it too. The great part is that I had told him that I'm in a tough place financially, so he offered to change my tires for $160--that's $90 less than their usual price. He also assured me that I could drive safely on the ones I have now for another two months or so, which made me feel a lot better. I had been worrying about my tires blowing up on the road, compounded by the fact that I didn't have enough money to do anything about it. I ended up having a good 10-minute chat with him and left feeling really happy: happy that my car is taken car of and happy that there are still small business owners out there who care more about the quality of human interaction and doing honest work than the fleeting joy of a badly earned dollar.

While I was waiting for my car, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood--it's fairly close to where I live, but far enough away that I haven't walked through this part in a long while. I had a great time. I saw lots of beautiful old houses. I petted a friendly white roly-poly cat. I rescued a bee. I played a game with myself to find the oldest section of sidewalk in that area (1914!). I watched the clouds changing shape as they rushed across the sky. I annoyed a grumpy old lady. I saw a dilapidated grey house that looked like it was being eaten alive by a huge mound of morning glory vines. My favorite part was when I found a wild happy yard that had no lawn but was totally overgrown with clover, sourgrass, and various crazy wildflowers. It was green and voluptuous and gorgeous and I just couldn't resist stepping gently to the center of the yard to pick some sourgrass flowers to munch on (you don't want to eat the ones next to the sidewalk unless you like your flowers glazed with a fine essence of dog pee).

To top off all the fun, I made some of the best homemade burritos I've had in a while. They were so amazingly tasty that I'm going to write down the recipe for you:

I sauteed one half a large organic carrot (diced) in olive oil till it was just past crunchy. Then I added one can of organic black beans, a can of organic diced tomatoes, half a can of corn, some oregano, a little cumin, a little salt, about a tablespoon of salsa, and a splash of liquid aminos. I let this simmer for a while, and then added about 16 quartered kalamata olives.

Holy crap it was good! And so easy! Seriously, you won't believe how yummy it is. SO yummy that you won't even need cheese (I haven't had cheese in my house for over two months in an effort to be healthier and more vegan-like). Ahhhhhhh...happy full tummy, happy exercised and tired muscles, happy car filled with clean oil, happy satiated kitty stretched out in the sunny windowsill. Happy.

I am Crabby

I apologize in advance for what you are about to read; normally I pride myself in NOT having the kind of blog where I rant endlessly about my pet peeves and write about what I had for breakfast. I strive to keep it positive and avoid making a laundry list of tedious daily details. While I know a few other people (at least four now!) find this blog enjoyable, I do it mostly for me: it provides a means to flex my synapses a bit, and I usually end up entertaining the heck out of myself in the process.

However, I have been beset by grumpiness and negative emotions all day. Allow me to elaborate on two things that really cranked up the annoyance factor while I was out running errands. The first thing I noticed is that people are really, really lazy. Even to the point where it negatively impacts their own comfort levels. Isn’t that a paradox? I went to Target earlier to pick up some prescriptions and parked at the far end of the lot--the very end--because there were trees there and I wanted to park in the shade. It’s a warm day out. But 98% of all the other cars in the lot were parked right up next to the building’s entrance. Some folks were even circling around to get the closest spot possible rather than leave their cars a little further down and walk. I find this hard to believe--most people evidently would rather come back to a baking hot car that’s been sitting in the sun than walk an extra 1/8 mile and park in the shade. Baffling.

The other thing that’s been bouncing around in my head like a ferret on coke is this: a lot of new music these days bites. I feel a bit like an old codger shaking my fist at the sky and yelling, “Kids these days!” But honestly, so much of what’s popular on the radio today all sounds the same (one exception being the Fleet Foxes, of whom I am recently much enamored). Today, I was thinking in particular that Franz Ferdinand, Louie the 14th, and Kings of Leon all sound like the same repetitive whiny band. They shall henceforth be referred to collectively as “Kings of Ferdinand the 14th.” End of discussion.

To ameliorate all the vitriol I’ve been spewing, here’s a visual treat. The one thing that brightened my day was the girl I saw crossing the street on my way home. She was wearing a funky blue plaid top and had vivid orange and yellow shaggy hair made even brighter in the sunlight, and it just made me smile. Kids these days.