I had a super fantastic weekend, despite it starting off kind of sickish –
I had a pain in my abdomen, right around where my appendix supposedly is. The pain first started on Thursday, and kept hanging around on Friday. I thought it might be gas, because, well, I’ve been kind of gassy lately. But the pain kept getting worse and worse, until Friday night I felt so sad and tired and nauseous I didn’t want to do anything except stay home and read Mary Stewart books. (I love Mary Stewart.) And the pain was still there on Saturday – albeit muted. So, I started to wonder if it was gas, because should one really have a gas pain for 3 days? And when I went to sleep on Saturday it STILL hurt. And also, when I woke up on Sunday! But then I did fun fun things all day Sunday and I guess I worked the problem out. I guess. At least it wasn’t my appendix – I was starting to get really nervous it was!
Super fun things! Yay, cross-country skiing! I love that stuff. It’s been years and years (maybe even 6 years) since I’ve been cross-country skiing. My buddy Jenn and I met and drove up to Fahnestock State Park and spent a few hours trekking around the snowy countryside! It was really great. I do love being outside in the winter. I love being outside in the summer, too, but so does everyone. Wintertime is special, somehow, it’s full of snow, and cold cold air, and you have to bundle up to be warm, and the wind blows, and it’s gorgeous and white. Cross-country skiing is special, too, in a “fringe of society†kind of way. The people who go skiing are usually really into it – plus it requires a basic fitness level that can be off-putting to new skiers. It is hard work. So you get a few different kinds of people out there – the love of nature and adventure people (I think this is where Jenn and I go), the technical skiers, who work so hard on form and technique, and love to wax their skis because it shows a true knowledge of the conditions and the ritual, the true athletes who go so fast and skate-ski, and sprint for 5 miles, and seem to be some kind of Brahmin among skiers, and the love of the sport skiers, who will come out in any old outfit and on any kind of skis the can just to enjoy the actual process. Most people smile or nod as you pass them, and it’s fun to be outside for so long that your face chaps from the wind. No, really, it doesn’t sound fun, but it is!
I got my official corporate yearly performance review. What is it about being me, and working, that makes me want to please people so badly? I mean, I like my department head, a lot. And he says today during the review that I’m good people, and he wants to keep me happy. My immediate response? I feel guilty about leaving the company, and start to think I should give it another shot. Luckily this reaction lasted about 10 seconds, but still. Is it me, personally? Is it being a woman in a technical field?
Lately I’ve been really thinking about joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. I don’t know why, exactly. I don’t know what they do there, but I imagine they have tea and proper stationary. I secretly am drawn to formal occasions where one might wear gloves to visit. The hitch? It might not be so cool as I imagine it, and my dressy eye makeup (dark eyeliner below my eyes, dark mascara, and a pearly light colored eye shadow on my lids) may work against me. Also, this statement from their web page: “The DAR believes that a strong military is vital to American national defense.†On the plus side: they do insist they’re non-political, and check out the hair-do of the president!
What I need to do is have some kind of fun girls club where we do stuff like meet for cocktails, pretend like we’re classy ladies, have tea parties. I think I have enough girlfriends in the area that would like to do this, also! And I also have a full set and a half or 2 of china, and, for that DAR flavor, the time-life pewter American Revolution Collectors Plates. Score.
