No Reason to Complain

The past few weeks have been very, very stressful. My current job is up in a few weeks (August 4th) and I don't have a job nailed down at this point. I have lots of "promising leads," but nothing NAILED DOWN. I've also told my landlady that my last day will be August 15th. Course, I haven't got a a new place yet, but hey! What's life without drama (except possibly much calmer and more relaxing ;)?

So I had the day off with nothing to do, and was ready to just go to a coffee shop when instead I decided to drive to the Washington Coast with sweet Dog. We are at Ocean Shores, at a crappy (but clean!) little hotel, right on the beach, and happy as clams. The Dog and I walked on the beach, I walked to a great Irish pub, where I had salad, potato soup, and lovely, lovely clams in a white wine broth, with a glass of white wine. The proprietor, James, told me about their biergarten, where I sat and read the new Hilary Mantel novel about Henry VIII. So pleasant!

So much good has been happening to people in my life this week, and I can't help but be really positive about life in general, even as I fret and fuss about specifics right now.

Tomorrow, The Dog and I will run on the beach at the Pacific Ocean, and I might ride horses on the beach before I drive back to work as an ER nurse. Really, life could be so much worse. I am a lucky (if uncertain!) girl.

Yoga + Spicy Indian Food = No Good

It's been a rough week for me professionally. My contract is ending, I have lots of irons in the fire, but no "definites" right now, which is scary. I've been relying on my amazing family and a good friend to talk through this whole situation with, but what I've realized that this is really the effects of several stressors (working nights, not living as close to my good friends as I'd hoped, being super sick for a week and a half, not sleeping well, eating too well, and not working out. So yesterday, in the depths of despair, and thanks to said Good Friend, I went for a run, which made me feel better. Then, again on the advice of Good Friend, I took it easy- read my book, went to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and then, inspired by that move, to a nice Indian restaurant in Tacoma. The food was a little spicier than I was anticipating, so I had more than half boxed up and decided I'd eat it over the next few days. This morning, I didn't feel like breakfast food (as usual. Why have cereal when you can have a hearty meal??), so I popped the leftovers in the microwave and went to town. Well, sort of. It was still spicy, but I persevered!

 A few hours later, I went to my first hot yoga class in a few years. And it was HORRIBLE. It was HOT, I was pouring sweat, I was practically passing out during some of the poses and the Indian food kept wanting to make a reappearance in the middle of class. SO GROSS. So here is what I learned about hot yoga:

1. It is hot. REALLY HOT. 

2. DO NOT place your mat ALL THE WAY across the studio from the only door (i.e. airsource). You will not get the refreshing cool breezes when the drill sergeant I mean yoga instructor deigns to open the door. At all. You will instead stare longingly at the door, but be unable to move your exhausted muscles.

3. Regard their "What To Bring" lightly. Bring water with gatorade, and MORE THAN ONE TOWEL. You will need it.

It was an awful hour. But at the end (after I'd determined I wasn't going to pass out or vomit or otherwise embarrass myself), I did feel better. So I will be back. You may have won the battle, Hot Yoga, but I'll be back to win the war. 

Independence

One of my favorite stories about the Fourth of July has nothing to do with fireworks or beer or barbecuing. Once most of the signers of the Declaration who WERE in Philly signed, they PEACED OUT. They LEFT. They were terrified about the repercussions of signing and openly defying the King and Country. It's fascinating. Because now we revere them as brave- which they were! But in the moment, there was real fear for families and wives and recriminations and the future and they signed with those uncertainties and none of our knowledge now that they made the right decision. When I see countries in turmoil now, I think of that- that is is real, and scary, and the future isn't known. . I also think of Opa as a 17 year old on Iwo Jima (or Iwo, as he always called it). And I think of the soldiers abroad now, and hope that their familes- and we as Americans- revere them both on the battlefield and afterwards, as I do Opa. Happy Independence Day! 

Musings from Quarantine

So, I'm home sick with...wait for it....pertussis. Thank you parents of unvaccinated children, who, with their children come to the ER after getting an entirely preventable disease. My guess is after repeated exposure to pertussis, my poor little (vaccinated) immune system just gave up. So now I'm living in self-enforced quarantine until the antibiotic course is over, which should be in 4 days. Sadly, I'll miss being around everyone for the 4th of July, but better that than spreading this disease!!The upside is that I'm getting  A LOT of reading done at home- hooray for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and the Kindle App!! I read a book last night called Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok that was awesome. It's a really well-done novel about a small girl who moves here with her college-educated mother from Hong Kong just prior to the Chinese re-takeover in the late 90s.  The author does some really neat things with language as the main character grows and learns to understand English and American slang/culture. It's a semi-autobiographical novel for the author, based on both her brother's and her experiences with America. I've read a lot of American bildungsroman based on the immigrant story, but none recently with such a captivating storyline and characters. If you're looking for a good book to read this summer, this is it!

 Another good one I read yesterday is called Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead. It's a good, slightly meatier beach read than most beach reads out there, and satirizes/observes the life of WASPS at a wedding in the Northeast. Again, really great writing, good characters and an engaging storyline.

 Both these books are by first time authors, and I can't wait to read their next books!!

Okay. Back to reading/The Real Housewives/dying of boredom inside.