A Theory On Why I Am Not the President

That's right. It was finally revealed to me, in a celestial dream, the reason why I am not now, nor will I ever be, the President of the United States (hereon referred to as POTUS). It takes a bit for me to drill down on my reasoning, so please be patient and hang with me...

It all started with me critically thinking about Group Work. As a bit of an introvert (and NO, that's not the reason why I'm not POTUS), I never really have been a fan of Group Work. I suppose that I used to like it when I was in high school and you were allowed to pick all your Besties as groupmates. But, as a college student, I detest Group Work. For one, even in situations where I can pick my group, I don't have any Besties in any college courses! But, more than that...I have found that I work much better alone. I know all that drivel about how you're supposed to work in groups so that you can better learn how it is to work in a work atmosphere with other employees. Yeah, yeah - whatev. When you are paying me, I'll do your Group Work. When I'm paying you, I just want to get'r done!

Sadly enough, I have three courses this semester where Group Work is required. Tonight's class was just one of these. This group had an opportunity to meet tonight to discuss our project and make some plans. First off, I was quite, quite impressed with my groupmates. Even though we hadn't all put forth 150% (although, one guy did and it was awesome), we all were intelligent enough to contribute to the discussion. Second, I was sure impressed with myself!

I made some (I felt) astute observations and some good contributions to our conversation. Furthermore, me and my organized-self took charge and decided to be the Group Mom. Honestly, if I'm not the Group Mom, then the person who takes this position ends up driving me bonkers. I realized this regarding one of the other groups.

Later, after my class and mothering were finished, I was ruminating a bit. I did a little attitude adjustment regarding my thoughts on Group Work. But, I also took note of my confidence level during tonight's discussion.

It's not out of the ordinary - or not anymore, shall we say. But, I do remember times, when I was younger (high school age and younger...especially those younger times) when my introverted-ness completely took over. Confident was not my strong suit. Honestly, who did have a strong, confident suit when they were 13? If someone says yes, they're lying. Or their confidence was completely inflated by peer opinion.

Not that my peer's opinions don't contribute to my confidence level. I have some great, great friends who aren't afraid to tell me that I AM AWESOME. And, let's not forget my sweet Mother who just can't say enough good things about me. But...I think that I am finally in a place where I am truly confident on my own.

The POTUS thing? Well, I realized that if I had been this confident when I was 13, I would have been well on my way to a place in politics. Most likely, I would be a state senator now and running for President in the election after next. The people who were confident when they were 13? Their names are...Hillary Rodham Clinton...Barack Obama... ... ... George W. Bush... ...Bill Clinton...

I'm glad I am where I am though. I don't really want to be POTUS. I mean, do you think that Barack Obama has any idea that there was an episode of Cougar Town, aired last season, paying homage to Top Gun? If you get right down to it, I barely have time to Netflix that darn show and watch it, even a season behind. And I, as we've already established, am not running the world.

The Thigh Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone...

Note: this post is not, not, not intended to garner sympathy or pity from you readers! It is intended to entertain you. I really hope it makes you chuckle a bit! Hey, if I'm laughing, you should be too!

This song is in my head a bit today. In order to best explain way, let me scoot back just a few days...
Over the past weekend, I ran my second (yes, my SECOND) half-marathon. Okay, done being super, overly proud of myself. Anyway, my last half-marathon was a success in that I finished it and accomplished one of my goals. However, it was an extremely painful success! I spent several days afterward in all kinds of pain - so sore that it was a challenge to walk up the stairs. Consequently, I made it a point to improve my efforts when I began training for my second half-marathon.
For the past few months, I have really stepped it up. I noticed a significant decrease in the number of times where I pulled a "I'm Too Tired To Run Today" move. I felt like a RUNNER. Also, I started doing my long training runs with a group of girlfriends. If anything is going to help me improve, it's chasing after a bunch of ladies who are about 100 times faster than I!
Alas...just a few weeks ago, I started having some very painful knee issues. There were a few times where I was limping about, basically dragging my right foot behind me. No longer a RUNNER. Still, I hadn't gotten so far in my training schedule to abandon ship. I iced, rested, took things a bit slower...etc.
Fast-forward to the day of the half-marathon (also known as...This Past Saturday). The girls and I drove up to Ashton, ID to run the Mesa Falls Half-Marathon or Marathon. Saturday morning, I was feeling fine and pumped for the race. Could not have asked for a better start to the day. For the first six miles or so, I felt like I was on top of the world! I was running better than I had ever run! The time was flying by!
Then, at about mile 6.5, it struck again. I was basically standing on the side of the road, trying not to cry. I was in pain (pain, pain, pain - by golly). But, I was also so disappointed! My LOVELY MOTHER (seriously, the best mother in the entire world!) came back and helped me limp through to the ending.

I finished, just barely. And the rest of our Idaho trip was quite fun. We stayed in a beautiful cabin and got some AWESOME massages (from the owner of the cabin!). It was a lovely trip. See the picture below with all of us lovely ladies smiling super big? A great indicator of how much fun was had!
But, I've been in some knee-pain since. I've been learning that rest and ice are the best remedies. However, I also learned that it's pretty likely that I have a common runner's injury in my IT Band. This is caused by stressing a muscle in the thigh. And...there you have it!! The Thigh Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone!!! See, the title of this post wasn't a trick afterall. And what led me to write it was this:

Sitting at my desk, working, I have noticed that if I massage my leg, it makes things feel a little better. THEN, I noticed if I massaged my hip/butt area, that felt better too!! It took me a moment, but I had to giggle at the fact that I was sitting at my desk, rubbing my own butt.

Daily Observation

The folks at Quizno's who were in charge of the new advertising campaign didn't really think it through...

I've just discovered a new blog!

Actually, I've been very busy discovering new blogs all week! They're all work related. They deserve a nod too - so here's my favorite of those.

But, THIS is the one I discovered on a more personal note and really enjoy so far! Seems to be on topic-ish with Dooce, but with a slightly different spin.

Read & enjoy!

PS: what really caught my eye was the title. WTH??

Book Report!

I am a big fan of reading. As a reader, I generally stick with fluffy, nonsensical, romance novels or mysterious thriller types. As often as possible, I try to get out of my shell and read something different. Usually, I do so in phases. I decide that now, I would like to read only historical fiction - or something similar. This was a phase like that. These phases, whatever they might consume, usually only last for a little while before I get back to my standard.

Last year, I got in a phase where I was fascinated with books written by celebrities. I read a lot of biographies (Fran Drescher, Alan Alda, Kristin Chenoweth, etc.) At that time, I hooked up with Tori Spelling to start reading her books. At the time, both STORItelling and Mommywood were out on the shelves. I read them both happily and I was pleased with the result. I'd gone in with some really low expectations (because I, of course, believe everything I see on TV or in the news). But, by the time I finished both, I was really satisfied with the result. I think that it was, partly, that I felt some empathy with Tori Spelling. Ha! - how often can someone say that?? But, I also found it inspiring that she was trying to write - something I have always wanted to do. I found her books to be funny and touching, very light-weight and easy reading. They were perfect "escape" material, which is something I generally require in a book.

So, it should come as no surprise that when the latest Tori Spelling book was released, Uncharted TerriTORI, I added it to my list at the library. I started at position #67 or something crazy like that. So, when I finally got it yesterday, I cracked it open with no hesitation. I was disappointed.

This was probably the book I'd been expecting to read when I read Tori Spelling's first books. The first two books were written seeming as if Tori had identified a story that she wanted to tell. They both had the feeling of being more important to Tori Spelling than she expected them to be to any fans. That is an important aspect of writing. This latest book had the feeling of being written because Tori felt like she needed to write a book. She had two previous successes and needed to continue to strike the hot iron.

Tori has mentioned her various neuroses and oddities before. Anyone who has read Tori Spelling's previous books knows that she has a crazy fear of flying and that she is into "other-world" healing. In the previous books, those things were small stories and they were funny. They did not consume the entire book and so, by extension, one could assume that they did not consume Tori Spelling.

Uncharted TerriTORI has a huge focus on Tori's neuroses. She turns into a twisted version of the crazy bag lady. No longer is she a quirky but humorous celebrity. I spent the first part of the book wondering why she was focusing so. Her previous two books had done such a good job of painting her in the "No really, I am normal" light. This book was undoing all of that work. But, like a car crash, I couldn't turn away.

What's more is that the first three-quarters of the book seems to wander. That may be part of the reason that Tori pays so much attention to her eccentricities. She has nothing else to write about - or nothing that would create a whole book, anyway. In the previous two books, she had a story to tell. She was talking about her unconventional marriage. Or, she was talking about being a celebrity and trying to build a family. This book doesn't get to the point until it's nearly over.

And the point is that Tori is a bit crazy, just like the rest of us, but MORE SO. And Tori needs to tone Tori down a little bit and just relax. It's a lesson that we all learn, most likely, at some point or another. And it's too bad that Tori took the first slot for writing a book about it. I expect that there are many others, celebrity or not, who could be more successful when writing about this journey than Ms. Spelling.

It's unfortunate, but I think that Tori Spelling has exhausted herself as an author. Two books were funny and refreshing. The third is tired and annoying. Here is a tip, Tori: now that you've learned to relax and take a time-out (so to speak), the first thing that should go is writing.

Gonna Have to Face It...

I'm addicted to cupcakes.

So, as I was researching for my last post, I was forced to peruse the Mini Cupcake website. I stumbled upon an exciting discovery! 'Sex & the City' cupcakes! OHMYGOSH. The thoughts tumbled into my brain, in no particular order:

1. Mini Cupcake needs to market these things better! I was just in the store on Saturday and I saw NO INFORMATION about all these sweet-sounding cupcakes!
2. I FREAKING ADORE a store that puts two of my favorite items together: 'Sex & the City' + Cupcakes = Jesse Is In Heaven. Seriously, I can think of only one thing that is better.
3. Umm...can I have one of these and one of these...and I want them RIGHT NOW

Random Thoughts

I have noticed over the past several days that I benefit from reading the blogs of many other people (like here, here and here - for example) and I have really slacked off on keeping up on my own. The thought occurred to me again this afternoon, as I was reading through lots of drivel on the internet (did you know that there is LOTS of drivel to be found on the internet???). Today, it didn't take me long to recognize at least one of the reasons behind the major shift in my blogging activity: I no longer have any ideas that I think are fun/funny/creative/entertaining. I used to be struck down in the middle of the day (or the middle of the night...occasionally, in the middle of the grocery store) by an inspiration. It was like something would click and Ta-da, I had a blog post!

That hasn't happened for a while now. And it really bums me out because I've been learning about blogging lately. Plus, I've been learning some other cool things that could be applied in this case. But I have nothing to write about! I feel as if I am experiencing a ginormous writing block.

As an example...I just thought for about 45 seconds about what word I could use to describe the size of my writing block. Words that instantly came to mind (please ignore their inappropriateness for this situation - I didn't actually use these words, afterall!): aggregate, major and huge. I am so distressed because a year ago, "ginormous" would have been the first word to spring into my brain! Not the last.

So, Reader, I apologize for the huge blog drought. I obviously need to start in on some yoga or meditation or walks through the park to help get my creative juices flowing again. I will say that I have experienced a near-fatal decline in my consumption of cupcakes from Mini Cupcake. I intend to remedy that as soon as possible. Maybe my writer's block is just a too-large sugar reduction? We shall see, we shall see...