Tuesday, August 21, 2007

What the hell is that?!?


I'm sure you are asking yourself that same question. What the hell is that crazy looking thing? It is a dragon fruit. When I am in Vietnam it is one of the things I like to eat most, but I have never seen one here. So last night, I was very excited to find them at my grocery store. I was almost skipping through the store to show Ben. Of course, I was not so happy to find out the price ($6.99) but I decided that it was OK this one time since there was not one single item of un healthy or junk food in the cart.

So what does the inside of this fruit look like?
Normally the ones I eat are white inside with the seeds, but this type is fuchsia. All you have to do is peel off the outside layer & then you can eat it. The flavor is slightly bland, so it is better with other fruit. (Kind of like a kiwi, but a little more bland.) In Vietnam, I normally ate it with oranges or pineapple.

So I made a yummy fruit salad of pineapple, kiwi, raspberries & dragon fruit. I bought a whole pineapple & cut it up too! It was a pain until I remembered the really cool knife my stepmom gave me fore my birthday, which made it much easier. And the other cool knife. Doesn't it look tasty?

Thursday, August 9, 2007

White pants

So I did something last night that I have never done in my life.... I bought white pants. Really they are long shorts (the ones that hit at the knee). I have not owned white bottoms since I was allowed to choose my own clothes (which was middle school-ish).

Why did I suddenly buy white shorts then? Saturday morning we are going to play golf & I have no golf-appropriate attire. The only shorts I could find that were remotely flattering & in my size were white. They were on sale, so I bought them. Now the question is, will I wear them any time other than playing golf????

Friday, August 3, 2007

Why do I love my new job?



This is why I love my new job. Yesterday I came in to these flowers on my desk. My boss just wanted to show me how happy she is I am here. Now mind you, she tells me this at least once a day, every day. But she went out of her way before work to do something nice for me.

The job itself isn't really much different. I am still fitting garments & telling the factory how to change them. I still sit in front of my computer almost all day. But the difference is the amount of work. It is 1/2 what it was at Spyder & because the product is simpler, I can spend more time going into incredible detail on it. I am able to do my best now, not just whatever-it-takes to get the work done. And the other difference is that I am appreciated & respected for what I can do.

And the office is nicer looking and clean. My trash is emptied every day. My cube is vacuumed every day. The bathrooms are cleaned every evening AND during the day. There are plants everywhere. All of this makes you OK with coming to work. I don't dread walking in every morning.

Oh yea, and there is the benefit of yoga twice a week. And since I don't feel so overwhelmed, I can do the yoga & go for walks the other days. I actually now take the time to breathe & walk away almost every day. (It's a hard habit to break though, some days I have to force myself still.)

Since I am no longer so mentally exhausted when I leave work, I now have the time & energy to go out with friends that I have neglected for 4 years. I can clean my house & do yard work in the evenings so I can enjoy my weekends more. I am able to relax over the weekend & feel refreshed Monday morning.

I am still trying to break the horrible habits I developed while working at Spyder. And it is hard now that I have spare time because I don't know what to do. I have to rebuild friendships & remind myself that it is OK to focus on other non-work things.

But coming into to flowers yesterday made me really think about how much better my life has been this last month. All because I changed my job. I wish I had realized how bad it was before & done this sooner!

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Am I a dork? You decide...

So today I had to bring a bunch of books into work. Cade is using my backpack for day camp, so I had to find another bag that would work. Grocery bags wouldn't work because they are heavy textbooks. So I went to my closet to see what other bags I own that might work. And what would better to use than my old Esprit bag?

Yes, I have kept my Esprit bag for 16 years now. It is black with lovely 80's multi-color lettering. It was the 2nd one I owned & is still in pretty good condition. My 1st one was fuchsia with white lettering. The last time I used it was in 8th grade when they were the "cool" thing to carry.

So now you get to decide whether or not I am a complete dork for keeping it. And would I be an even bigger dork if I started using it for my excersise bag???

(Oh, and in case you are wondering, Esprit still makes the bag, go here to see!)