Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Getting ready to go on vacation is a royal pain in the tukas. Work is a mess and when I announced I’d be out at a large-ish meeting today, I suddenly got a ton of requests today for last minute stuff. Yuck.

In the meantime, laundry is now done, cold wash is all hanging on the drying racks. Packing list has been made.

Tomorrow night I’m finishing up last minute work stuff and passing things along, then home to pack, get emails out to folks, and get to sleep early. Still haven’t started the hat I have to make for the gift exchange at the retreat, guess I’ll be knitting a lot on the plane.

Then it’s off to the left coast early Friday morning.

I think the theme of this past week has been “yes, I’m incredibly tired and I’m so, so, so, so, so, so ready to go on vacation now, thankyouverymuch.” It’s been difficult to motivate myself to do much of anything.

Sort-of prepped for a 10k on Saturday, then likely planning to go watch the parade Saturday evening, and perhaps find myself out and about somewhere later that evening. Sunday is of course the festival, and I plan to go down and try not to get too sunburnt.

Also more than a wee bit tired of the daily thunderstorms now. With one exception they’ve all been in the evening this past week so have (theoretically) not interfered with my workouts, but I’m still a bit tired of the light shows and the wet. And the accompanying humidity. Not that we shouldn’t expect 198% humidity in DC in June, but still.

Gotten my stuff together, mostly, for California next week. I’m set for a ride to Wildwood, have made a couple plans to see folks, but will need to be making calls & dropping notes this upcoming week to try and set a few more things up. Looking forward to the Tut exhibit at the De Young, and the zoo, and yarn shopping. And, most of all, just not being at work for two full weeks. I need the down time from it or I’m going to seriously go nuts. I’m very, very glad I planned this trip and got it approved back in December, because it’s coming at a perfect time to get the heck out of Dodge.

Okay, thank you Netflix for partnering with everyone under the sun. Here I was thinking I’d need to buy another computer or HD TiVo or some sort of device to play the “watch instantly” movies (while still being able to chat on the laptop, mind you), and while playing with the Xbox this morning I discovered I could watch them via a free download on that device. It’s nice to not have to spend more money for entertainment, and also good since the Xbox is the only thing plugged into the TV with HDMI at this point, so the picture quality is pretty good, even for downloaded content.

The week was an odd one, with the swings in weather and going out to be social and work oddities. Now that we’re past the initial stages of stimulus work, it’s getting down to crunch times for many offices – implementation and distribution of funds. Which means a lot of serious work, as well as the occasional eyebrow-raising inquiry (seriously, you think that a contract to maintain and develop a web site for aid recipients to report their progress doesn’t fall squarely within the definition of “management and oversight” of your program? please).

Finally running time machine this morning with my backup drive. A bit late, I know, but will be good to have it done at last. Cold wash got done, dinner plans with Richard and his new beau this evening. Need to get to the grocery store soon (tonight? tomorrow? not completely out of food but it’s getting there). Date planned for Monday. At some point I should get in a long bike ride this weekend. Need to finish up a sock I’m working on so I can get started on its mate. All these little necessities of life which catch up if you don’t keep up with them.

This morning I mapped out my long runs for the next month, up to Columbia on the 17th of May. It’s ambitious, but doable. I do wish I were in the situation of last spring where I had been at a 10k long distance for months before, but you run with the endurance you have, not the endurance you want, to paraphrase the former head of defense. In the meantime, my hips and ass are complaining about the extra work from the increase in running and biking. They’ll just have to get over it.

Didn’t really mind the rain this morning. We need it, because water levels in the area are still low, and it merely meant I had to bike on the trainer again. Not my favorite way to bike, but better than not biking. And I got to skim through two of the back log of magazines in the magazine pile, which I suppose is a plus.

Chatted today with a co-worker of mine who’s been out on maternity leave, and caught her up on the last couple months of office drama and intrigue. Again, it’s tons of fun being a lawyer at a BGA when the head of the BGA dislikes anyone not in his particular profession, but especially can’t stand the lawyers. I think he views us merely as an obstacle to carry out his work rather than a protection. That might change the first time something goes wrong (and something will go wrong at some point), but we’ll see. I’d bet he’d just blame us for not being vocal enough, despite his efforts to sideline us. Regardless, it was fun to chat with her again; I’d missed having her in the office as she’s the other lawyer who came in the same year I did, albeit several months later (there was a third, but she switched offices).

While last week was clearly allergies, this week feels like I’m fighting off a head cold. Sneezes, stuffy, etc. Did some last minute cleaning this evening while talking to a cousin who’s coming to town tomorrow with her hubby, and then with Richard, and then the new guy, and I probably shouldn’t have attempted any dusting while I have a semi-stuffy nose. It definitely didn’t help the nose. I did find some afrin in the cabinet while looking for my old staples of cold medications – that was a year expired. I generally manage my allergies better these days, with the result that I don’t get nearly the amount of head colds I used to, so I don’t have to keep what used to be my usual standbys on hand any more.

Work’s been semi-quiet, with passover, easter, and spring break sapping much of the work force. Did get one WTF question this evening that made me question the sanity of certain higher managers, but we’ll look into it. I find myself muttering the words “LBS” to my fellow lawyers a lot these days (“Legal, But Stupid”). It’s a useful standard to have for such situations. Not that one phrases it thus to the clients (diplomacy counts, after all), but it is useful nonetheless.

Dear weather, it’s April, I shouldn’t need to turn my heat on. Stop it.

Dear sinuses, I don’t have time for a cold. Stop it.

Dear allergy meds, you’re not supposed to fail me in the middle of allergy season. Stop it.

Dear work, I don’t have time to get to all the things you keep throwing my way. Stop it.

Dear upcoming race, I’m not ready for you and you’re approaching too quickly. Stop it.

Dear life in general, the whole minor annoyances thing? It’s not working for me. Stop it.

Had an impromptu hill workout on a run this evening since the wind was coming in steady, fast, and directly in my face for half the run. Even lost my visor at one point to a good gust. But it was still a good run, and I’m glad I skipped the swim this evening to do it. I think I’m going to be able to build up to Columbia by the time it rolls around, which is a good thing.

Work was nuts again, though we did get a chance to be helpful on something late this afternoon that’ll have a big impact on our stimulus spending next week. Not that the head of the BGA will appreciate it, but it’s there. At least the initial screwup wasn’t ours.

I was released from some of my previously planned volunteer activities this weekend, so am heading out tonight and may do so again tomorrow, depending on folks’ other plans. That and I must go clothes shopping, since last weekend didn’t pan out. In the meantime, though, it’s time to get out of the house.

I don’t recall having had sinus headaches in previous cherry blossom seasons like I’m having this year. I’m putting the caffeine reduction plan on hold until after the blooms are done to ensure it’s not withdrawal on top of the allergens. In the meantime, this shit hurts like there’s no tomorrow, despite taking my allergy meds as religiously as ever.

The work stress from yesterday was largely diffused this morning and I’m back to grinding away on the usual stuff. Tempest, teapot, etc. Thank heavens.

Now if we could just take a roto-rooter to my sinuses…

Work continued with the ass kicking today. I’m going to have to knuckle down and punch things out faster and/or just be better in general about getting back to folks or my office is going to continue to get pounded. It’s bad enough the head of the BGA hates the lawyers, but it’s filtering down to the rest of the staff as well. And we’re a very convenient whipping boy these days.

Meh.

Dinner date this evening to help de-stress. Still not completely sure where this one is going past hanging out. With my return to training our social lives are again drifting apart, since mine is once again starting to revolve around exercising and crashing relatively early and his, well, does not. In any case, it was date number whatever and I’m enjoying it. I seriously need to cuddle, though. But dinner dates are not conducive to cuddling, more’s the pity.

And it must be bed time because the local army fort is playing retreat/tattoo. No, it’s not taps (lights out), but it’s close enough.

Haven’t made time to write because I’m either getting home & being a total veg because I’m wiped out from the work day or I’m going out to see friends or maybe even a date or two. Work continues to roll along at a crazy pace. I’ve given myself a big assignment that I’ve not been able to start yet because of other fires that keep popping up. It’s needed, but finding time is a challenge.

Training is almost non-existent at this point. I’m swimming, but with the colder temps I’ve not gotten out to bike in the mornings and I’m unmotivated to haul the trainer back out. It’s not supposed to be this bloody cold in late Smarch in DC, damn it.

Much has also been on my mind about dating and the extent to which one compromises versus standing firm. After BC there are some things I consider to be vital to my well being which are not precisely the norm (Body Electric comes to mind), and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about those things and how and when to introduce them. With a couple guys I can tell there are distict differences in relationship styles that I don’t think will ultimately be compatible. And how does one express that and not sound cliché?