Soccer, Dictator of the World and Other Uselessness

I love summer. Not just for the weather, but the months of June and July where there is a spectacle of the best sport ever to be played. (Well every 4^th summer there isn’t… that’s a sad summer) Soccer. The Women’s team is my absolute favorite. They, unlike the men, win games and meet expectations. Gold medals galore…. And no World Cup Trophy. It’s the one thing they don’t have… and at this rate the one thing they won’t win. Monday’s game was torture… I was pacing, stress eating, and was yelling at the tv. It was ugly soccer. Uncreative soccer. Big names who need to show up weren’t present. The flat, un-dynamic 4-4-2 is struggling in its uncreative attacks. Predication after last night’s game? We will limp by and win against China (if we are lucky) and then lose in the semi’s. Unless, of course, they start to echo the USA team of old… with exciting, creative soccer that builds from the midfield.

I never ever get political in this but… one thing. Why is keeping the confederate flag flying in South Carolina (or any state for that matter) is even a DEBATE. Republicans politicians are dancing around the subject of the flag so they don’t lose half of their voter base. Goodness, just say what you think. Politics are ridiculous. After watching John Oliver and VICE every week… Im realizing how unfair stuff is. And ridiculous! (seriously… check these shows out. It’s infuriating). It makes me want to be Ruler of the World. I think I would make an excellent dictator. Imagine if a politician was honest and didn’t care about how much of their “supporters” they were offending? It would be refreshing. (again… I would be the best dictator ever) Rusch 2024 J

I keep saying this… I know I do. But I would REALLY like to have all of my stuff. I wanted to watch Pride and Prejudice last weekend. In NY and not on Netflix. I wanted to watch Love Actually… In NY and not on Netflix. I actually wanted my French horn this past weekend too. Goodness it is frustrating. My copies of East of Eden, LOTR, and Pride and Prejudice are sitting on my bookshelves at home too.

My morning runs stink. I have no energy in the morning. I run by green lawns and dream of just laying down and going back to sleep. The 1.5 miles is pure torture, but when I run at night 2.5 isn’t all that bad. I can’t figure it out. I think it’s a water issue… but idk. Still working on it. I can’t wait to raid the soccer fields at the school! I have decided that driving around to the school is a safer option… and will have a higher success rate!

I think Im going to have trouble keeping up this exercise schedule. Actually I know I am. Im a quitter when it comes to this. I’ll admit it. When I played team sports I had to be faster and better then everyone. (or at least try) I was motivated… score the most goals, steal the most bases, dribble the fastest, make the best runs and see the field the best. (I also wanted Player of the Year, but lost by a vote. Im still mad at that. Probably time to let that one go!) Only this allowed me to practice hard, stay later, and work on days off. Now… it’s just me. I can’t push myself. I need Palmer to yell at me. I need someone to keep me accountable. I need a goal to work towards otherwise when I don’t want to go for a run, it is very VERY easy to say “no harm if I don’t”. At the moment I am bribing myself with new workout clothes. $2 each day I get out of bed early and run. Blah. Not sure how long that bribe will last.

Another item on my list is actually cooking myself meals. I looked up all of these recipes and got all of the stuff… and have forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer all week. Fail. I have gotten 2 of the 3 steps done. (1. Plan. 2. Shop. 3. Cook) It just happens that the step Im missing is pretty important. Maybe next week?

I can’t believe that I am saying this… but…. Wait for it…. I kinda miss Ashville Days. (Cue burst of laughter from everyone) The fireworks are the BEST and the garage sales stink, but there is something fun about wandering through crowds to look at crap, avoiding lawnmowers getting ready for the big race, and stray dodgeballs. Every time the Ashville Days day rolls around, I think of holding the newest Harry Potter book (that I had been waiting for all morning by standing in the dining room window staring intently at the mailbox) and being completely engrossed when there was a knock on the screen door. Although I am extremely grateful that my friends had trekked out to my house to get me for garage sales shopping, I was so SO mad at my mom for making me go. All I wanted to do was stay in the chair and binge read Harry Potter. Pretty sure that the only reason I had friends sometimes was because I had a social mother who wouldn’t let me blow off my friends for a book. Dad would have let me read….

Its baseball game weekend in Houston on Saturday. It’s the Yanks vs. the Astros. I can’t name a single Astro player in the history of the team, but Im cheering for them. I have a shirt and everything. I have this rule… cheer for whatever team that is playing the Yankees.

I sent my email to UT to inquire about their program. I am now obsessively checking my google account. Even though my phone will alert me of a new email… it’s pretty sad actually. I can check something off of my list though! Making so much progress already! #rockingit If he says that UT will be a good fit, it will be time to spend $$$$ on books and rock the stupid GRE. Third time is the charm right? (I went to London partly because they didn’t need the GRE’s…. that’s how awesome I am at this test)

One awesome thing about working from home is the impromptu dance parties that I can break out into. Pretty sure Watson hates them because he is usually abruptly awaken from his nap. They are so fun and it helps get me through my day. Today I am in the office... so I cannot get up to “shake it off”. (Although I do jive in my chair) Instead I decided it would be a good idea to close my eyes and listen to my song. Yeah… I had a human hovercraft and I jumped out of my skin when I opened my eyes. Goodness….

Im from the country…. I went to school in Panama. Im used to country smells and don’t mind them. Last night was pretty gross though. I came tearing down the driveway… anxious to be home from sitting in traffic on 410. I noticed a rather large cow patty but it was 1. Too late to avoid it 2. Usually crusty and rock like. Not this time. It splattered EVERYWHERE. There is cow ALL over my car and it stinks. Literally. Lucy literally stinks. After the Houston trip this weekend…. She is going through a carwash.

Some narcissism for the day… How adorable was I???! J

Soccer, Cute Old Men, and Lessons Learned

So enough about my quarter life crisis! My list is going well. Im starting to run… slowly. It’s really more of a slow jogging that I am doing. But I have to start somewhere (that’s what I keep telling myself at least!) Now if I could just eat better!! Honestly I need to work on one thing at a time. If I start my workout schedule AND deprive myself of junk food… I would go crazy and *poof* motivation gone. Because guess what… I run to eat!! J I tell myself if I run up that hill… ice cream. If I run more than I planned on… ice cream. See where Im going with this??? I. LOVE. ICE. CREAM. And in Texas it is always warm (not that winter ever stopped me from eating ice cream) so its even better. I also bribe myself with the pool. If I don’t at least run 2.5 a run, I don’t get to cannonball into the pool with all of my clothes on. It’s a fierce motivator.

Speaking of jumping in pools…. That is the one thing that I like about Texas. (I know… I usually just make fun of this insane state!) I love that I can jump in the pool at night. In NY, during the 3 weeks that a pool is usable, as soon as the sun went down it was insane to go swimming. Who wants to go into a 69 degree pool when its 70 degrees out without a sun to warm you up when you get out? Here the pool is like 75-80 and its still 90 out at 9pm. I like it. And I think I have lost my pool “toughness”. If it was 65 at home… jump in! Now… I like it when it’s in the 70’s. J Texas is making me weak… ha

See this picture below?? See anything "wrong" about it???

I'll give you a moment....

Notice that the bag says "earth day"??? Notice how instead of an earth.. the state of TEXAS is on the bag?? No globe... just Texas. (photo courtesy of Crystal letting me take a picture of her bag)

So I learned some things this week.

1.       So who knew that heavy cream could become a solid? It had been in the fridge, opened, since May 5^th. Yeah… it looked like tofu. That’s how tan and solid it becomes after festering in the fridge for over a month. Watson came over to sniff and jumped fast SO fast you would have though he got shocked with electricity. Pretty certain that we were both gagging.

2.       You need to be aware of your surroundings before breaking into a dance party. Alone would be ideal. Not while you are walking back from your run where people can see you awkwardly convulsing.

3.       You will see people on your morning run. Just because I avoid being out of bed before 6:30am, doesn’t mean that the world isn’t awake and out and about at that time.  So when you get dressed and decide that its ok that you wear see-through bright yellow shorts with really cute teal underwear, a hot pink sports bra and a bright blue tank top because hey… no one will see you… its FALSE. People will see you, including the cutest OLD man ever to walk on this planet.

The conversation went like this:

 

COM(Cute Old Man)- “Did you get up this early to run??”

Me- “Ha yes I did… Not sure what I was thinking!”

COM- “Good for you!”

Pause….

COM- “I like you….. because you don’t match.”

Me- ….. stare and laughing “Yeah… kinda got dressed in the dark this morning”

COM- “You could always turn on a light… but I think it’s a nice bright outfit.”

And cute old man shuffles away…. And Im just left on the sidewalk. speechless. That somehow is my life. Its never boring J

 

4.       Before you blare music into your eardrums.. make sure that people around you can’t hear it. Especially when said song is Gold Digger. The explicit version. (don’t ask…) Thankfully my row is cool.

5.       I can’t hop fences. Yes I tried it. Yes it was this week. And no I was stealing/trespassing or breaking in. I was trying to break out. The ranch butts up to the local high school and the gates for the soccer fields were WIDE open. Complete with goals and everything. I was dying to get on the field... enough that I attempted a fence climb. There was convenient hole under the fence that was a perfect for my soccer ball. That was the only part that went well. I ended up dirty and bleeding (yes I bled. I scrapped my arm) and still on the wrong side of the fence. If anyone ever wants a fence hopped… don’t ask me. (in my defense the fence and my cleats were really wet from the rain.)

6.       Working from home is going to be hard. Seriously. I went without seeing a human from Tuesday night til Thursday night when I walked with my aunt. I talked to my cat. Yes…. True statement. Its really odd to work from home that much. Really weird. BUT I get to run in the morning and I feel GREAT after! Im so awake and ready for the day. Its just the getting out of bed early that kills me. Ill admit it… almost didn’t happen on Thursday. Its just so easy to NOT get up!

7.       Im not good at sharing. That’s a horrible thing to say, but its true. I don’t mind sharing food… most of the time. I don’t like sharing my cube though. And my drawers. I had to clean out half of everything. See the before and after L

 

I got the cutest email yesterday from my sister. Who else thinks that this is the BEST email attachment ever??

The Women’s World Cup…. I love it. I love soccer. And I love the women’s team. This Cup has been great for American soccer and, almost more importantly, the women’s game. It has sparked a lot of important conversations.

1.       The turf. Yes… you are all rolling your eyes right now. Its been over talked about, and too many excuses have already been made. But the bottom line… the Men’s tournament has never and will never be played on turf. Yes, it was in proposal made by Canada… but when a company offers to install grass in all of the stadiums FOR NO COST and FIFA still denies the request… that’s bad. To me its not a “the ball will roll/bounce differently” or the “hard on the bodies” issue. It’s an equality issue.

2.       Seth Blatter’s comments along the lines of “maybe women should wear shorter/tighter outfits for more people should watch” has been made again… this time by a Brazilian. http://thebiglead.com/2015/06/16/brazil-official-credits-make-up-and-shorter-shorts-for-womens-soccer-popularity/  The backlash to these comments are important and encouraging.

3.       Not an important conversation but… I do love that the Women’s team is more successful than the men’s
 

Watson's 1st birthday is June 30th... I'll do something to celebrate with him!

 Kirsten and I last night at the 50th anniversary party

 

Not Quite as Crazy

This post won’t be as crazy… promise.

Life in San Antonio has been uneventful for the most part. I continue to do dumb and embarrassing things. One day I kicked my shoe down the hall while talking to the boss of my department and stubbed my toe in the process. That was awkward. So was spilling water on a really nice guy at the water/coffee station. He was so sweet about it. Thankfully it was just his sleeve. But that is a bad way to introduce yourself to someone. “Oh hi. Im Anna, the girl that just spilled water on your cute dress shirt sleeve. So nice to meet you.”

Watson is getting calmer and cuddlier which is SO nice. He is still a terror at times. A few weeks ago he got on the living room table and was pawing at my Lego Mini Cooper. I told him no, and he turned, looked at me, and proceeded to give the car one big push over the edge. The car turned into a bunch of single Legos strewn across the floor. So… he tests my patience sometimes. But I love that we have a little routine in the morning and at night. He is a good buddy to have and a great side kick. His 1^st birthday is coming up on June. 30^th!

So Im not scared of the house anymore. Im officially ok living in houses alone! Woo! Only took me 26 years. I don’t even think about it anymore. Watson and I just do our thing. I know what all of the noises are now so Im calm, cool and collected. I still don’t go down the hallway or upstairs at night… unless I really have to. So maybe Im a little scared…? But not really!

This is the longest that I have been away from “home”. A year, 2 months and 6 days. Obviously I have been home since then (Sept. and then Christmas). Once I hit August it will be the longest stretch that I haven’t been back to WNY. (I went home for Christmas from London and then came home for 2 years in August). I love summer on the lake. (Not that I ever had much free time in the summer with working 16 hours days at CHQ) I miss having a lake. I think I get “homesick” for home at the start of every summer. It happened in London and its happening now. (It didn’t happen last summer… I was still ecstatic to not be in WNY) I miss wings still. That hasn’t changed. And Johnnys, Wegmans, and driving on a two way street. I still hate HATE driving here.

I was picked to be a buddy. Every new person gets paired with a “veteran” on their first day at orientation and the buddy eats lunch with them and then picks them up after orientation to help them through everything. If you know me… you are already laughing. Yes, buddies have to eat lunch one on one with each other. Im so good at talking to strangers. Especially small talk. It’s like a first date, complete with eating. (why do first dates involve food? It’s bad enough that you have to talk through them… why do you have to eat too.) Thankfully my buddy is really nice. She is my age (a couple years younger) but she will be cool to work with I think. I pick her up this afternoon to start training her, so we shall how awkward I will be! J

Im really really good at coping with change. (Again if you know me…. That’s complete sarcasm) I didn’t sleep before 9^th grade because my locker was going to be in a different hallway. PLEASE. It’s Panama. College was even worst, and London… well that change didn’t start off so well. (http://www.london-christies.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-stressful-start.html ) Im only ok with change when the excitement and adventure outweighs the bad (Rome, London, Texas). Im oddly ok moving far, far away but changes in my everyday staus quo… not so much. One is coming and it’s actually going to be hard to get used to.

Im seat sharing at work. (I know some of you are now asking... really?? That’s it?!?) Yes, that’s it. I am going to be in the office 2 days a week. Some of you are still lost. Here are the challenges:

1.       I have to really push myself to get out of the house now. I can’t be a hermit, no matter how much I want to be

2.       I need to keep showering J

3.       I have to share my cube. I really think I missed that lesson in school. Im not a good sharer. I have to clear out half of my decorations. Very sad.

4.       Loss of visibility, and being a part of the office.

Obviously there are some pluses:

1.       Using less gas

2.       Crystal and I are on the same schedule. So everytime I am in the office, I get to see her

3.       Watson will love me

4.       I won’t be SO angry at traffic everyday J

5.       I can sleep in more, and gain some time from not commuting

6.       Im going to start running in the morning

You are all wondering if you read #6 correctly… I know you are. But I’m going to try it. I HATE running… and I HATE running at night. I have stuff to do, and I hate that I have to wait to run. It keeps coming back to what Laurie said… “Its hot as hell in Texas”. Yes it is as hot as Dante described in the 7^th Circle reserved for murders and violent crazies. I have to wait until at least 8 to run. By 8 I want to be curling up with Watson and reading, or finish something I started… not going for a run. So 6am wake up call for a 6:15 run it is. You are wondering how long this will last. (so am I honestly) I am bribing myself with cute workout clothes J $2 for every day I run. A girl needs cute clothes ;)

I LOVE to sleep… which is weird because as I child I hated it. (seriously… children never know how good they have it do they? Go to bed at 7pm, get up at 7am… that’s the life). I made my favorite babysitter CHASE me through the living, kitchen, dining room and back to the living room over, and over again. (The rooms made a loop). I remember sitting on the couch, dreading the moment that Home Improvement was going to be over because that meant bedtime. Well now as a quasi adult I LOVE sleep so when its disrupted I am not a happy camper.

The alarm when haywire last night. Well technically it was this morning… 3am. I was dreaming about an alarm and woke up to it going off. Remember a few paragraphs ago?? When I said “Im not scared of the house anymore”…. Well… waking up at 3am all bleary eyed and disoriented and the alarm is blaring my first thought is “INTRUDER!!!!!”. I would like to point out that it probably took me 5 mins to 1. Hear the alarm. 2. Realize what it was. 3. Jump to the INTRUDER conclusion. Basically if there is ever a real intruder I am in serious trouble. (along with fires… see an earlier post for that debacle)

3am and the alarm is going off. I push buttons in with my groggy brain while mumbling some not very nice words. Im sure Watson was amused. I get it shut up, make sure it’s not set and saunter back to bed. 5:12… it happens again. I get it to stop. 5:21 it goes off again. Yes… it went off every 9 mins from 5:12 on. It was so so fun. Watson thought so too. He completely panicked every single time. Poor thing.

OK that’s it for now. Completely out of boring things to tell you J

 

 

 

Making 26 Count

*Warning. This post is basically a rant and has been posted to help keep me accountable. Read at your own risk*

So… I haven’t written in awhile. I could say it was because nothing down here is as exciting as London (although true) but the real reason??... I have been in a bad mood. Yes for a month. Usually this blog is full of me making a dum dum of myself (oh that still has happened by the way! Don’t think my awkward and embarrassing moments haven’t stopped!)  When you are in the middle of a quarter life crisis, blogs aren't as fun. In my last post… pre Rome… I said I had high hopes for the 26^th year. It was like I was going to turn 26 and “poof” everything is AWESOME! (I hope someone gets that reference).  So nothing has changed…

Every since I boarded that plane on August 19^th in tears, I have been waiting for lightning to strike and something awesome and inspiring to land in my lap. The screen shot of my facebook page sums up my sentiment exactly:

I was not in a good place. Then started the 4 jobs and my mini “lets figure stuff out” life break never happened. 10-14 hour days often without a day off for a week or more and I didn’t have the time or energy to figure anything out. I took a leap out of desperation and landed in San Antonio Texas. Life was better… a 8 hour day making enough money to not only pay my bills, but do this crazy thing called save money. It was like a vacation, having all of that free time… and I think that was the problem. In school my grades were better during soccer and softball. I was good at time management and got y stuff done. During the winter I slacked off and my grades went down. Free time and I don’t get along (but at the same time I do need to crash to recuperate!)

So anyways… I went from being too busy to having free time. I was still waiting for the awesome opportunity to land in my lap. That is what has always happened. I was accepted into my first choice college, then I randomly saw a poster about London and decided t apply to Christies… and got in. (im not sure how… that was the worst interview of my life) I don’t know if I have been handed everything in life, but I haven’t had to work all that hard to figure out my stuff.  The next step has always been right in front of me and an easy choice. (Well Christies wasn't that easy of a choice. I remember a lot of tears about that one too... but it was there) I have been so lucky on that front. So what does a 24 year old girl, just home from one of the best experiences and adventure of her life to do when she finds herself in small town America? I self-combusted.

The last few months here have been a wakeup call. My job pays me well, provides me benefits and is easy… but I hate it. I have days that I want to go Godzilla on my cube farm. (today was one of those days) So I decided that year 26 would be THE year… and then came home and sat around thinking that nothing changed. Really?? REALLY? Still waiting for the lightning strike. So by this point you are probably wondering where I am going with this (if anyone is still reading).

I have officially decided that I am tired of doing thing I don’t want to do. I am spending 8 hours a day doing something tedious, and the rest of the night dreading the next day. I need to stand up for myself more and say “no” and not feel badly. I need to be more selfish. This weekend was go time and I wrote a To-Do list. So watch out world… 

1.       Train to run the Rock and Roll ½ marathon in Dec.

2.       Learn to play the violin (I have been squirreling away $ and prob going to just buy a cheap one)

3.       Read more, watch TV less

4.       Eat better

5.       Work out more (kinda goes with #1)

6.       School…

a.       Applied to a teaching certification program at UTSA

7.       Look into UT

a.       Email the director of the Holocaust Center

b.      Take a tour

c.       Work on essay

8.       Study for the GRE’s

9.       Rock the GRE’s

10.   Go to Austin

11.   Buy old stuff in Fredericksburg

12.   Go to Dallas and check out the art scene

13.   Take an beginner adult ballet class

14.   Making a 1-3 year life plan/goals

15.   Get my pictures organized and printed
16.  Try Skeleton
 

Sixteen to-dos…not a horrible way to start. Right? So in a month or two if you haven’t heard all about this list and how it is going… feel freet o call me out. (No parents please. J )
 

Frustrated. Stuck. Tired of Complaining. I think that about sums it up.

So that is why I haven't been blogging... All of that mess that you just read! My quarter life crisis can be over any time now.. really it can. Apparently I have to do something about it if I want to do :) I'm tired of hearing those comforting lines of "it will come in time" and "Everything happens for a reason". Nope. Don't believe those two empty sayings.

In other news the Women’s World Cup starts this weekend! I am excited. Oh so excited. The sport is

finally getting attention which is long overdue. The only thing Im disappointed in (minus the turf fields…but that is too long to go into) is that ESPN doesn’t offer a bracket to fill out. There was one for the men’s world cup. Why not the women?