2nd Star to the Right :: Neverland. I think I want to live there.

I've got to stop finding these random games and playing them! I'm going to be up all night trying to beat this one! I only got a 28 on my first attempt. How much does that suck?

9:02 PM | allison | # |

Bloody hell. It's raining and the power keeps going in and out today at work. I wish it would just go off and stay off. Then we could go home. Wishful thinking, huh?

Actually, I'm hoping it does stop raining. It's Tuesday, which means a run this afternoon after work. Who woulda thunk that I'd enjoy beating the crap out of myself with a run three days a week? Not me, that's for damn sure. But I've been finding that during the week if I go two days without a run, I begin to get a little antsy and cranky. I couldn't muster the energy to walk yesterday, but I did do weights and sit-ups and push-ups. That's gotta count for something.

My running has progressed quite nicely. Hal's program starts with a 1.5 mile run and then adds a quarter of a mile every week for the next eight weeks. I modified it a bit, because at the start I was unable to do the 1.5 miles all at once. This is the third week of that distance, and I'm hoping to add a bit more next week. I haven't wanted to add any mileage to my runs until I can complete the smaller amount first. Logical, yes? I thought so too.

I figure by the time I head home for white-water rafting in July, I should be able to do the entire distance - just over 3 miles! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

2:17 PM | allison | # |

This morning while I was getting ready for work I saw a commercial for Howard Johnson hotels. I had no idea they were still around. I haven't seen one in years and years and years. But I do have fond memories of them. When I was younger, from about infancy until I was 7 or 8, my family would drive up to northern Minnesota every summer and spend a couple of weeks on a lake with my dad's parents and sister and her family.

The commercial this morning brought all that back. We used to stop at a HoJos every year, in the same city. Some place between Eau Claire and the cabin, there was a HoJo's that made the best cheeseburgers I've ever had, and had a special sauce on them they called Orange Sauce. Looking back now, I'm sure it was just mustard and ketchup mixed together, but at six, I remember looking forward to those burgers with the special Orange Sauce all year long.

On a totally different note, I saw an article on MSNBC's website this morning about a gentleman in Georgia who uses his digital camera to take pictures of women entering abortion clinics and then posts them on Abortioncams.com (which I refuse to link because I don't want anyone to link there from my site). I'm about as Pro-Choice as they come, so this little bit of news has me disturbed to say the least. But the article does pose this interesting tidbit:

The tactic poses difficult legal questions that courts are just beginning to tackle. Last year, an Illinois woman whose photo and medical records were posted online sued the activists who took the photo and the man who ran the Web site, a friend of Mr. Horsley’s. Her pending damage suit says the posting violated her privacy and subjected her to humiliation and potential harm.

A “right to privacy” doesn’t appear in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, but for the past 37 years, courts have increasingly held that Americans have a right to keep many details of their lives secret. Among issues the courts could someday have to weigh with regard to this tactic is whether women going in for abortions lose any of this protection because they’re in a public place-or, to the contrary, whether entering a clinic for a medical procedure affords additional privacy protection. Courts may have to consider whether the Web sites implicitly threaten violence against the women. And they’ll certainly have to weigh the claim of the activists that they are journalists whose work is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.

“This is a new area for the law, and there’s no easy answer based on past cases that makes this a slam dunk in either direction,” says Jonathan Zittrain, co-director of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

A bit of a conundrum. I hope the courts work this one out soon.

8:41 AM | allison | # |

The office has gotten so quiet it's almost scary. I can't hear one other person talking on the phone or typing or anything. Yikes.

Most everyone has already split for the holiday weekend. And one guy in my group just stopped by to say have a good weekend and go home. So, I'm thinking I will.

But before I go, I wanted to post this link for the super-cool guy who got laid off on Wednesday. I hope he has a safe and fun trip to Austin this weekend.

3:41 PM | allison | # |

I don't think I've looked forward to the weekend this much since, well, last Friday. This week has been long and complicated and I'm glad it's just about over. Phew!

Today's Friday Five is all about dreams. Not so good for me, but here it goes.
1. What's the last vivid dream that you remember having? Well, I can't really say. I almost never remember dreaming.

2. Do you have any recurring dreams? Sort of. Since I never really remember having drempt, I can't say for sure. But when I have nightmares, I almost always wake up with a sense of deja vu.

3. What's the scariest nightmare you've ever had? Again, since I don't recall the content of dreams, I can't say. But I have woken up crying before, so something terrible must have happened.

4. Have you ever written your dreams down or considered it? Why or why not? No. See above.

5. Have you ever had a lucid dream? What did you do in it? Well, since I have trouble remembering dreams and I'm not sure what a lucid dream is, I'm gonna have to go with a big fat NO on this one.

Happy Holiday Weekend everyone.

8:22 AM | allison | # |

I've been thinking. No, stop laughing. Really, I've been thinking. Mostly about this guy at work who got laid off Wednesday night. He's got thirty days and then he's gone. He told me this morning and I thought he was kidding. I feel bad about that. But I really thought he was kidding. He's kinda cynical and pessimistic and I'm always teasing about it, because that's the total opposite of me. Hell, my dad used to call me Pollyanna.

While I'm still not completely sure how I feel about him being laid off, at least my tummy isn't upset anymore. I did some thinking while I was out on my run earlier this evening and it occured to me how un-angry this guy is. I mean, if it were me, I'd be super-pissed. But he's just kinda taking it in stride. At least that's what it seems like.

He's always been a little hard to read - I'm not always sure what he's thinking. Sometimes it's annoying, but most of the time I just find it amusing. Despite the fact that I have trouble reading him, or perhaps because of it, I find myself quite unhappy to know that he won't be there much longer. I like this guy a lot.

I guess in a way, it's a little exciting for him (look at me, finding something good out of this - damn Pollyanna). He'll get to start all over somewhere else and meet a whole new group of interesting people. But I am a little disappointed in new VP man - it doesn't seem like this was handled very well. I mean, the guy's boss didn't even know he was being laid off.

You'd think he'd know - we work in marketing. Our job is to communicate, yet we have a bit of trouble communicating with each other. A little ironic, no?

9:34 PM | allison | # |

No more dancing in the gigantacube today. Sorry folks, nothing to see here.

Bad news, y'all. One of my favorite people here is being laid off. I'm not really sure what to think about it yet. All I know for sure is that my tummy is all upset.

I guess new VP man is not as busy in all his meetings as I thought he was.

1:23 PM | allison | # |

Wooohooo! I've got the gigantacube all to myself until next Wednesday!

*Allison does her little happy dance around the gigantacube*

Hooray!

9:14 AM | allison | # |

So, today the new VP man is kinda just not talking to me.

Is that a bad sign?

3:38 PM | allison | # |

I was just thinking that it's a terrible shame blogger ate my post yesterday - it was a well thought out, clearly written bitch-session about how much I've come to dislike my cube-mate at work. And then yesterday afternoon, I found out that I'm going to be moved into her group. Right now, I'm part of Creative & Design, which is super-fun. But I'm going to be moved into a newly-created Leads Generation group, which besides being super-fun, will also be super-career boosting. Only one problem: my cubie is also going to be a part of that group.

Here are the highlights of the conversation I had with our new VP yesterday afternoon:
new VP man:So, what is it you wanted to talk about?
me: Well, when you mentioned me switching groups earlier today, I kinda wanted to know more about that. I'm not really sure where it puts me.
vp: Basically, our org chart sucks and I'm going to move people around until they're doing what they do best. You're in Creative & Design, but you're the Advertising Coordinator. You don't write copy and you don't do layout and design.
me: Oh yeah.
vp: You've got a lot of potential, yadda, yadda, yadda. So, what's the problem?

Ok, so it was awesome to have him compliment me. I've felt for a long time that I do a lot of work here that no one really notices or sees. They just think, "Well, it's done. Good." But new VP man sees that I did it, and that feels good. But then when he asked me why I was a little hesitant about the change, I told him straight up that I thought I would have some problems working in the same group with my cube-mate. Ugh.

I can't believe I said that to him. Most of our department dislikes my cube-mate. And on most levels, I tend to agree with them. But why did I say that to him?! It made me sound like I'm not willing to even try, that I don't want to be a team player, which totally isn't true. They just caught me at a super-frustrated moment.

He kept asking me what it was that I had a problem with, and I couldn't answer him. I kept talking around and around in circles. Damn.

But then last night after work when I was running and replaying everything over in my head, it occurred to me what it is: I don't respect my cubemate. It's very hard to work with someone you don't respect. At least for me it is. I like to know that I can count on other members of the team to do the job they've said they would and know that it's good work and won't need to be second-guessed or double-checked. But I know that I wouldn't be able to do that with her. I'm not able to now, and we're not even in the same group.

So. I guess I'll get back to work now.

8:42 AM | allison | # |

Bloody hell. Blogger just ate my entire freaking post.

8:50 AM | allison | # |

It's still raining. It's been raining steadily now for about three hours and I'm getting a little tired of it. Just in case you were wondering. I guess I can't really complain since it's flooding in the mid-west, but we had floods last summer and that was kinda sucky.

I'm ready to go home already. I was ready to go home after lunch today. Donna and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then stopped at Marble Slab on the way back. We sat on the bench and watched it rain while we had ice cream. And then I didn't want to go back to work.

Last Christmas I got Cirque du Soleil tickets and I took her with me when it came to town. It was an indescribable experience. All I know is that I wanted to go back for the very next show and watch it all over again. And I love spending time with her - we're the same age, but at totally different stages in our lives. But somehow, we get along so well. She's married and has a son (he'll be four soon), and I'm as single as they come and can't decide if I could take care of myself and a dog. She's an incredible human being and I feel lucky to know her.

But you know what? I was thinking the other day that I feel privileged to know quite a few of my friends. And these people are the ones I consider my friends. Everyone else, I guess I would consider more of an aquaintence or co-worker, but not a friend. I found this awesome quote once from W.H. Auden: Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. That quote totally describes my family and those people in my life that I consider family.

3:18 PM | allison | # |

Thank god it's finally friday!! I have been waiting for this all week. For some reason, I hardly remember April at all. It flew by like it was nothin'. May, on the other hand, can't go quickly enough. But this morning on my way to work I was listening to NPR and when Morning Edition starts at 8, they always say the date (duh!) and some famous person's birthday (today is the birthday of Dennis Hopper, he's 66 years old). ANYWAY...today is May 17. I graduated high school exactly 6 years ago today. Just in case you wanted to know.

Enough rambling. Friday Five has returned! Hooray!

1. What shampoo do you use? Pantene Pro-V Hydrating Curls Shampoo.

2. Do you use conditioner? What kind? Of course, silly question. My hair would be a total mess without it. Pantene Pro-V Hydrating Curls Complete Therapy Conditioner.

3. When was the last time you got your hair cut? Last Saturday. I had five inches cut off. But it's still long - I'm working my way to shoulder-length gradually so I don't freak out.

4. What styling products do you use? Hmmm...Pantene Pro-V Curl Defining Scrunching Gel. I feel like I'm doing a commercial for them.

5. What's your worst hair-related experience? Ugh. In the 8th grade I had my hair cut really, really short. I had had long hair down near the middle of my back and got it cut short like this. I started to cry in the chair in front of the lady and didn't want to go to school the next day. It was terrible. That's why I'm doing it in stages this time.

Later, gators.

9:32 AM | allison | # |

I am so sore today, I had trouble going down the stairs this morning on my way to the car. Growl. Yesterday wasn't so bad - I was thinking I did a pretty good job of stretching before and after my run. But today, not so much.

Tonight after work, I'll go on my second run. Yesterday was either a rest or walk/cross-training day. I opted for rest and layed on my couch practically all evening. But there was good stuff to watch at least - The West Wing and Law & Order were both new, and next week are their season finales. I'm looking forward to both. I'm not sure if I like this Elisabeth chic on L&O. I know she's been on this entire season, but I'm still not used to her yet. I miss Angie Harmon. She totally kicked ass.

The power was out at work a little while ago. We were all kinda hoping it would stay off so we could go home, but no such luck. I'm still at work and totally unmotivated today. I just wanna go run and then go lay in bed and read my new books.

Blah.

10:33 AM | allison | # |

I did it! I ran my first run today! Hooray for me!!!

My first 1.5 miles. Whew. I didn't run the entire thing, cause, well, I couldn't. I'm not strong enough yet. But I will be. I did Hal's walk/run/walk/run/walk/run thingy and I am so proud of myself. Tomorrow is a rest or cross-training and I'm hoping Terry will want to walk again. And then Thursday is another run. I'm already looking forward to it! How crazy is that?

When I got home, I felt horrible - I just wanted to throw up and pass out. But once I got some water into me and had a banana (needed to restock the potassium!), I was feeling much better. Even went out to the pool to cool off for a bit. There was a couple out there with their little boy who kept saying to everyone that he had to stay at the end with only three legs of water. Instead of three feet of water. Cute, huh?

Phew. Now that all my adrenaline is gone, I'm getting sleepy. And it's only a little after 8. Maybe I'll read a book or something.

8:16 PM | allison | # |

Well, yesterday was my first day of running. Sort of. Monday's are a day of rest/walk/jog days. So I walked. Terry (an awesome lady I work with) offered to walk with me, so I took her up on it. It was nice to have the company and she brought along the cutes dog in the history of the world. She's a mini-daschund named Katy-Did. How freakin' cute is that?!

We finished our walk in just under an hour, which is about five minutes faster than when I walk alone, so woohoo! The loop I do on the Greenbelt Trails I've figured to be just a little over two miles, so when I run, yes, actually run, this afternoon, I know that when I pass the church, I'm about half-way done. I'm a little scared and a little excited about this whole running thing. I'm super-afraid that I won't be able to run it all, which I know is ok, but still a little disappointing, you know?

I've decided to combine Hal's 5K training and 30/30 program, so I won't graduate up in mileage on the 5K training until I can run the entire 1.5 miles comfortably. I told Caryn (my running guru friend) and she said that sounds like a good idea, especially since I'm new at this whole running thing.

10:08 AM | allison | # |

Ok, so after sitting on my ass, I decided to be productive and clean out my desk. What a monumental task that is turned out to be. But I found an old email I had printed out and thought it apropos for Carl and Jen - my two favorite college students who are just finishing their first year of higher education

Never give up on your dreams.

People who go to college are incredible. We go to classes. We read and absorb and are comprehensively tested on heavy amounts of materials. We sleep very little. We drink ourselves into oblivion. We kill ourselves with several types of smoke. We cough and keep sneezing. Someone is always sick. Someone is always complaining.

We become attached to our close friends. We smother each other. We lean too much, but our friends don't mind. We think often of the past and want to go back. We know we cannot, and soon we won't want to. We all had seperate lives, families, backgrounds and pasts. We live totally different from how we used to live. We are frustrated and sometimes want to give up, but we never stop trying, and our friends won't let us.

We disregard health. We eat awful foods. We are forced to think about the future. We are scared and confused. We reach out for things, yes we don't find them. We try to sort out our minds, which are filled with studies, worries, problems, memories, emotions - powerful feelings. We wander the campus looking for happiness, which can be found in a friend's smile. We hurt - a lot, but a friend always tries to take the hurt away.

We keep going, though, because above all else, we never stop learning, growing, changing, and most importantly, dreaming. Dreams keep us going and they always will. All we can do is be thankful that we have something to hold onto, like dreams and each other.

I can't even begin to express how proud I am of both of you. I remember my first year, hell, my first day of college like it was yesterday. Probably one of the hardest things I ever did, but also one of the best. We've all been lucky to grow up in the homes we did - our parents blessed us with an amazing gift: roots, so we always know where home is, and the wings to fly on our own.

9:01 PM | allison | # |

Guess what I did today? Absolutely nothing, that's what. I sat on my ass. Held the furniture down in case of a sudden lapse in gravity.

Ugh, I got up early, cleaned the house and did the laundry and had nothing else to do the rest of the day. It's too bloody hot to do anything outside and I've read all my books and watched all my movies. I dislike days like this. I guess I could iron, but then what'll I do later?

TBS is showing Deep Blue Sea, probably one of the cheesiest movies ever made. It has only one redeeming factor. Thomas Jane and LL Cool J. Double dose of hotties :)

One good thing. I found my new favorite game here. I must say it's quite amusing after you get the hang of it. And I love that show, I'll ya what.

8:08 PM | allison | # |

Well, I did it. I bought my shoes today. I mustered up the courage to make a trek to the mall, towards which I have feelings of great disgust, and bought my new running shoes. Caryn said I should try New Balance and Merrisa said I should try Asics and my dad said I should get whatever I feel comfortable in. I ended up getting Ryka. I did find a pair of Nikes that I liked, but they didn't have any in my size (6 1/2). I know, I have small feet. But I'm not even five feet tall, so it's all proportional.

Anyway, thank you to Tamikia at Lady Footlocker, who helped me find good shoes for my first running efforts. Only two more days!

The rest of the day, not so exciting. I did some grocery shopping, cause there were very few edible items left in the fridge. And I got my hair cut - the lady took off six inches! Crazy. And my hair is still way down past my shoulders. I've been toying with the idea of cutting it all off and going short once and for all, but I can't work up the guts to do it. My bud Donna said I should do it in stages...a couple inches every couple of weeks so I can get used to it gradually. It's a good idea, but I can't find a picture of any cuts I'd like. I have a really round head, so long hair looks good on me.

Ok, so that's all. I'm gonna do the laundry. Or watch the end of Notting Hill. I can't help myself. Hugh Grant is a hottie.

9:55 PM | allison | # |

I've officially started the countdown! Only three more days until I begin running! Hooray!

Who ever though that I would run either? If you had asked me this time last year if I wanted to go for a run, I would have laughed in your face and shoved another twinkie down my throat. But all that is over. I haven't exercised at all this week - not only has this week been terribly exhausting at work, by the time I get home, it's either too late to go for a walk (i.e. too dark to walk on the trails by myself) or I can't muster up the energy to get on my Orbitrack.

You'd think with my lack of energy, there is no way I'd be able to start running next week, but on some sick, twisted level, I'm really looking forward to it. I know it's gonna suck and be hard and I'll be sore and icky, but the end results will be worth it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Anyway, this is what my first week's schedule looks like:
Monday: rest or walk/run
Tuesday: 1.5 mile run
Wednesday: rest or run/walk
Thursday: 1.5 mile run
Friday: rest
Saturday: 1.5 mile run
Sunday: 30-60 minute walk

The walk/run is a combination of running and walking (duh!). There are no rules that say I have to run continuously. Hal says to run until I feel like I can't go any further and then walk until I feel like I can go again. Run-Walk-Run-Walk-Run-Walk. I can do that. Or the training says I could do something else completely, like biking (if I had a bike), swimming or just plain-old walking.

So, anyway, I'm hoping I'll be able to record my efforts with this program here. Not exactly the best reading out there, but I'm doing this for me. My first priority this weekend is getting some good shoes. I don't want to hurt myself and then totally blow off the rest of the schedule.

1:27 PM | allison | # |

I'm having a crappy-ass day so far. And it's only half-over. Yippee. When I finally cornered our VP at work today (he's still flying back and forth between here and SF until his family moves out here and it's really hard to get a piece of his time when he is here), he told me I had ten minutes to talk. So I did. I'm beginning to question our branding efforts in the Yellow Pages and am also proposing that we move into the online Yellow Pages, but I can't seem to get our VP to sit still for more that five minutes at a time, or get a solid yes or no answer out of him. I got partial answers about both the print and online Yellow Pages. I guess that's better than no answer at all.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this guy a lot. I think he's going to do wonders for our department and inspire us to wonders for the company. Hopefully, it'll be better when he's out here full-time and not flying back and forth between work and his family.

Oh yeah. And no one can find the original files for a set of 40-something letters we have in our prospecting database (which are being updated), so guess who is re-keying them all today? Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! Tell them what they've won, John!

12:24 PM | allison | # |

Ok, so I've decided to start running. Crazy you say? I think not. In my attempt to lose some weight (f.y.i. Allison is officially 25 lbs. lighter than she was on January 1 of this year. Hooray!), I've been exercising like a mad woman and trying hard to eat things that are good for me instead of just eating things that taste good. Much to my surprise, I've discovered foods that fall into both categories.

But in an effort to keep off the weight I've already lost (I'm about 1/3 the way to my goal of losing 70 lbs.), I've decided to take some drastic measures, i.e. running. My friend Caryn does it and loves it. My dad runs. I know a ton of people that run, not just for the exercise, but to compete. I'm not sure the competing part is for me, but I'm definitely into the maintaining a healthy-lifestyle part. So that's it, I'm gonna start running.

Since the beginning of April, I've been walking a little over 2 miles three days a week, hoping to work myself up into a run by June 1. But then yesterday while I was on the phone with Caryn (a.k.a. super-runner-woman), I mentioned that I wanted to start running. So she sent me a couple of links in my email this morning with some awesome getting started tips and best-practices. And now I'm getting so pysched about this that I'm not sure if I can wait until June 1. The only thing that's stopping me now is shoes. I need to go get some running shoes. The only semi-athletic shoes I have now are a Payless special. I have a feeling those aren't going to cut it.

Note to self: Don't forget to call Caryn and thank her for the links. And GET RUNNING SHOES NOW!!

1:14 PM | allison | # |

I just finished changing up the template for my group blog if you wanna take a look. Nothing special and Mel and I seem to be the only ones who are writing anyway, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

I can't remember where I heard this, but it's an old legend from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC...

Walking on the Moon
When Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement, but followed it by servearl remarks, usual com traffic between him, the other Astronauts and Mission Control. But just before he re-entered the lander, however, he made an enigmatic remark: "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."

Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russion or American space programs. Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.

In July 1995, while answering questions following a speech in Tampa Bay, Florida, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question. This time, Armstrong responded. Mr. Gorsky had passed away and he felt he could finally answer the question.

When he was a child, Armstrong had been playing baseball in the backyard with a friend. His friend hit a fly ball which landed in the front of his neighbor's bedroom window. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky.

As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. "Oral sex?! You want oral sex?! You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

2:50 PM | allison | # |

Good lord it's hard to concentrate today. The pile of paperwork on my desk this morning is incredible and I'm having a really hard time convincing myself to start it. Ugh. Blah. And so on.

I'll just do the Friday Five instead. This is an old one, cause the folks there are on break, and a well-deserved one at that.
Here we go:
1. Where were you born (city or state or just country)? I was born in Aurora, Illinois, USA

2. What is your favorite number? Hmmm....tough one. I think I'm gonna go with 46 on this one.

3. Vanilla or chocolate? chocolate!!

4. What section of a bookstore would I find you in? I've been known to wander around bookstores for hours, so I'm not really sure. As of late, however, I've been into autobiographies. Right now I'm reading Black Boy, by Richard Wright. It's incredible.

5. What kind of mattress do you have on your bed? soft? firm? water? Firm with a pillow-top cover. I just bought my new one last month and am L O V I N G it!

10:06 AM | allison | # |

I've added this fellow blogger to my list of regularly listed blogs on the left. I feel like she's reading my mind and saying everything before I get a chance to.

It must be love.

8:58 PM | allison | # |

I think I found my new hero. Just surfing this morning and discovered this wonderful take on having kids when I'm good and ready.

So there.

9:37 AM | allison | # |