Flowers in her hair...

The end of August was incredible as I took a trip to visit Jessica in San Francisco. What a beautiful city filled with endless things to see and do. Could I live there? If the situation were right, yes. I still feel drawn to the NE big cities like Boston, Chicago and of course NYC. It was really fun to spend time with Jessica and meet her friends. Here were some of my most memorable moments

*Experiencing the wide variety available for public transportation. I think having a car is nice, yes. Not having a car (and responsibilties that go along with it, which reminds me I'm due for an oil change)...even better.

*Visiting a wide variety of local bars and restaurants. The food was delicious, I experimented with beers I've never had and the atmosphere was everything enjoyable. I even indulged in tiramisu twice. So very sweet that was.

*Meeting J-mo's friends. I feel so privileged having opportunities to make new friends and develop connections with others all over the world. People are so fascinating.

*Our sight seeing adventures over the golden gate and up the hills.

*Shopping at the coolest thrift store I've ever seen (located in the Mission). Such a treat!

*Singing karaoke with the most amazing crowd and fellow singers I've experienced so far when it comes to that beloved hobby.

*The folk art (i think thats the name of it?) musuem where we learned all about the Shakers! My question for them (if they were still with us) is if you don't believe in having sex or reproducing then did you just plan on the religion dying out? Very cool furniture though.

*Watching Gilmore Girls as we rested in J-mo's great studio apartment! Also it was impressive that no matter what question I had about the show, Jessica knew the answer. The girl has mad skills!

I hope everyone who wants to go to SF makes it happen. Definitely worth it.

the effect of professional female body builders

While winding down from my workout on the treadmill today I changed channels to TLC just in time to catch the end of What Not to Wear. Next begins a story of a woman from England who is now 1 of 70 female professional body builders in the world. I understand that some women thrive off of this life style. I've never met one nor do I know someone who knows one but I accept they are out there.

Suddenly I became aware of every muscle in my body and they felt 10 times bigger. Watching this muscle woman literally made me stop working out for fear of bigger hamstrings or biceps. I stretched and drove home. Clearly that is not my calling. I was going to post a picture of her but I can't stomach seeing it on my blog.

We share the same birthday

Please keep in mind that I do not consider myself to be a good critic of music whatsoever. I bought this album today and thoroughly enjoy every song on it. Seriously...just love it. :-)

The Dark Knight and gall stones

This weekend I enjoyed the company of a long time friend. Krystal drove up from Spring Hill to engage in good food, lengthy serious convos and meet Hannah. Since I don't have any pictures yet to post I will sum it up here :

*We saw the Dark Knight.... I'll admit the previews slightly frightened me and the Joker is a scary villain. I was not disappointed. Look forward to seeing it again when it comes out on dvd.

*We dined at Yamato's Japanese steak house. Eh I wasn't very impressed. The atmosphere is so crowded for the price. Not the Arigato's and Kobe's I'm used to but the food was indeed delicious.

*We laid around on the never failing corduroy of comfort doing absolutely nothing.

*We talked about inappropriate yet hilarious names for her unborn love.

*Saturday night while Krystal slept I took Meredith to the ER for gall stones. Meredith and I proceeded to watch about 2 and a half hours of punk'd while she received care there (we laughed probably more than anyone should in an ER especially during the episode with Jon Heder). Meredith does need to get a cholecystectomy but thankfully it can be planned as an outpatient procedure.


That was a great weekend. :-)

For all you book lovers

I've been shown a very useful site. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I had to laugh particularly about the reviews they gave Joel Osteen.

Jerk

I spent the morning at the library. After the library I cuddled with and loved on my niece (who is precious). When I showed up for work at 1pm I was half asleep. Right about then, this conversation took place.

me: "Hey how is your day going today? Everything alright?"
coworker: "Shitty, I just found out an ex who I shared a bank account with took out all the money I deposited yesterday. Now I have no money, I can't buy gas and I'm running on E."
me: "Man I'm really sorry"

Why is it that I couldn't give this coworker the $9 cash I knew was sitting in my wallet? I feel like a douche bag. I kept trying to justify it and thinking douche bag like things like "Well maybe you shouldn't have a joint account with your ex" and "I'm on a tight budget, I only have a 1/4 tank of gas to last me the rest of the week" or "I have debt I could put that 9 dollars towards" and "I barely know this person"

Why was it so hard for me to show some grace? I hate that. I want to just love freely and not feel so held back by worldly thoughts and silly rationalizations. I really should apologize to that person tomorrow. Will I? Will I feel too embarrassed or uncomfortable? Even though I know those feelings don't matter will I be tricked into believing they do? I find no pleasure in walking away from those experiences thinking "What the hell was that about Lindsay? Why were you such a jerk?"

Tomorrow will be better. I know I can do better. If I commit to loving others then I know I really have to commit to loving them even when it's uncomfortable. I know this is a life long process. So I am sorry if you happen to be one of the learning lessons!

Standing next to the open oven

I swear that's what summers in Gainesville are like. Actually probably worse. It's freakin hot. You get the idea. Maybe I can spend next summer in Alaska. Unless it's the time of year where they have absolutely no sunlight. Anyways Summer 08 = Somewhat Serious Lindsay. I'll explain.

* I seriously got on a budget ; I am seriously paying off debt and loving Dave Ramsey.

*I'm serious about my workout schedule.

*I'm seriously studying a lot when I'm not working or working out.

I also recently went through what I like to consider the American right of passage for becoming an adult:

While driving, I got sick of music and wanted to hear people talk. Yes, I've been listening to talk radio. I feel very adult like. I love it.

Besides all the seriousness I'm still having fun! Hannah is way cool and it's a neat experience being here so far. Watching Adam and Meredith with her makes me want to passionately love people. It's really beautiful.

I have noticed lately that I don't feel as friendly in public as I used to. If I feel that way then it's probably true and thats a crappy realization. I need to work on that.

I saw Sex and the City last weekend with Evelyn, Heather and Maribel from work. It was AWESOME! Yea I know that I don't live that way and that few people do. I would never spend $500 on shoes. Watching those women makes me love dresses and high heels. It also makes me appreciate my friendships. Even though the show is a show and not real, it dealt with real problems women face and it made me hurt for those women who relate. Just another reminder of how sad the world is. It also made me want to move to NYC that night.