Waiting for a Jet Plane

(I wrote this at 3 o’clock this afternoon while without internet.)

I’m currently sitting at gate 11(the best gate because it’s like three feet away from security; gate 32 is the worst) at the San Jose airport, which does NOT have free wi-fi, thankyouverymuch, sir sitting next to me, waiting for my flight to start boarding. I’m a little over an hour early for the flight, which is sort of cutting it a little close for my comfort, but thankfully there was NO ONE in line at security, which is good because I had to Opt Out because FUCK if I’m putting myself through a body scanner. NOT HAPPENING.

And my personal pat down was … sort of anticlimactic. I expected some sort of drama or surliness or perhaps just them finding my tiiiiiiiiny biltong knife on my keyring, because, OOPS, I was halfway to the light rail station before I remembered that I had it. But no. She was friendly, I was friendly. She complimented my hair and didn’t search my bags, and in less than a minute or two, I was on my way.

Anyways, I’m normally super anal about getting to the airport early, and would have been panicking and stressing at the prospect of only arriving an hour-ish before my flight, thanks to that one weekend where I missed four flights and was sort of scarred for life. I wanted to get here around 2 for my 4 pm flight, but I went to the gym after I got off work and just didn’t have enough time after that to shower and pack (what? I knew WHAT I was going to pack; I just hadn’t actually PACKED it yet) AND make the train that would get me here at 2.

Man, once my bags were packed, though, and I saw how freaking HEAVY they are, I considered just calling a cab and making it easy on myself. But I don’t have any cash, and I’m not actually sure how much money is in my bank account, and besides, taking the light rail and then the bus was FREE. Y’all know how much I like FREE. I’m pretty proud of myself managing to lug all my shit the 15 minutes to the light rail stop without crying or falling over, but a few minutes in, I did have the thought that perhaps I should have asked someone for a ride.

Oh well, I’m here now, and coming home, not only will Feller pick me up at the airport, my bags will be three pounds of coffee and two tins of tea lighter, not to mention all the knitted goods I plan on leaving in Tucson, which will also reduce my return load.

Tucson Bound

I’m leaving for Tucson Thursday evening, and I am SO SO SO excited. It’s just me going, and the week away from Feller will be pretty terrible, but I am so looking forward to uninterrupted time to visit and reconnect with my friends.

Am I in any way prepared for this trip? NOPE. I am pondering what I will pack, which means debating HOW MUCH I’ll pack. Like, Imma be gone for a week, maybe I should check a bag? But I don’t WANNNNNNNNA check a bag! But how much makeup and shoes can you fit into your carryon? I think it’ll just take some creative finagling of the “overhead compartment bag, under the seat bag and purse” rule. But, SERIOUSLY? You gonna make all your shit fit into what the flight attendants will allow you to carry onto the plane? Like, REALLY?

And that’s where I start downsizing the amount of makeup and shoes I would normally pack for a week long trip that involves going to church on Sunday, an occasion for which I like to dress up. I think Imma leave my heels at home this time. I will take two pairs of jeans, because, really? I’ll be gone a week; I need to at least PRETEND to wear more than one pair of pants ever. (Feller was SHOCKED and SCANDALIZED that I would pack three pairs of jeans for our six week trip to Cape Town and the UK. “But … you can just WASH them!”)

I might need to pack before I pack just to make sure I can actually fit everything I want into my various bags. Also, I should determine whether I can carry more stuff easily in my GIANT laptop traveling bag or if I should borrow Feller’s backpack. And what purse do I want to bring? The heavy one that holds a lot of stuff? Or the one that doesn’t weigh five pounds when empty?

And HOW THE HECK am I getting to the airport? My flight leaves at 4 pm, so Feller can’t take me because his job is PRETTY STRICT about 9-5, and fuck if I’m paying for my car to sit five minutes from our house for a week. I’m thinking bus, but again, HOW MUCH SHIT AM I TAKING?! Because lugging all that on public transit doesn’t sound fun to me. But I might be too cheap to take a cab. DILEMMAS.

Oh, and is my present for BFF’s baby shower ready? NOPE. I mean, I guess I have until Sunday afternoon, but let’s not wait until the LAST POSSIBLE second, shall we?

There’s just so much to do in the next few days, and I’d like to hit the gym before I go, hopefully for my 3 times a week goal, but that depends on when the TV delivery guys get here, I think. Sometime between 1-6. Wonderful. And guess who’s been fighting a cold the past three days and, thus, utterly useless for anything that isn’t NAPPING? ME. That would be me. Doesn’t my immune system know that I have BETTER things to do?

I guess now, while waiting for the TV, would be a good time to be productive.

Amy’s Awesomeness Project

Yesterday, UPS brought my Resolutions Chart for tracking Amy’s 2012 Awesomeness Project. I haven’t filled it out yet, as yesterday evening was fulling of cooking. I know, right? I COOKED. For the first time since Feller and I moved in together. But it was for a good cause; we visited some new parents for dinner, and it was fun to feed them.

Anyways, I’m done with work at 1030 tomorrow morning, and after that, it’s chart filling out time! My resolutions range from firm, precise things, such as gym and running three times a week and having a weekly game night with Feller, to more nebulous ideas, like “make time for music”, as I adore listening to it but haven’t been, and “be a better girlfriend.”

I also want to spend this year focusing on friendships and new experiences and meeting people. I want to spend my time doing more interesting, fun things than just sitting around watching tv all the time. I want to finish lingering knitting projects and work on my spinning. I’m going to blog regularly and send mail to friends and family.

I’m going to be a better student and a better housekeeper and stay on top of the dishes by washing them as we use them. Imagine that! It’s FASTER that way. And easier. And my kitchen stays CLEAN.

I’m going to find little ways to make my life easier and better and more full.

The Happiness Project

Borrowed from http://www.happiness-project.com/

If I’ve seen you in real life in the past week or so, no doubt I’ve babbled about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. This book is her account of spending one year changing her life by not changing her life. She’s a pretty normal lady with a great family and a job she loves, and she wants to know if she can become happier by making small adjustments to her everyday life, and, oh hey! It works!

She breaks her “Happiness Project” into twelve (one for every month!) different aspects of life in which she would like to create greater happiness, and she has three or four resolutions to accompany each area of focus, building on the resolutions from the previous month. Additionally, the entire book is filled with quotes from the extensive happiness research she’s done, and I have NO IDEA where she found the time to read all the books she cites, because DAMN.

Some of her resolutions, like going to bed earlier and clearing clutter, are (seemingly) simple but really draining when it doesn’t happen. She provides some universal Truths about happiness that are simple and things that most people probably already know, but sometimes, I just need someone to state the obvious. Several of the chapters deal with her relationships with other people and how to get the most happiness flowing in those relationships. She reminded me how important it is to show up and be present in people’s lives and how much my own attitude affects other people’s.

Really, I love the way this book got me to thinking. I have an AWESOME life. I have a wonderful boyfriend who I adore, a job I enjoy and that allows me to focus my energy on school, and I am so blessed. But, of course, there are areas for improvement, and I really appreciated some of Rubin’s suggestions and tips and ideas for making my great life EVEN BETTER. So, as I was reading, and in this past week since I’ve finished the book, I’ve thought about what resolutions I can make that will help me become a happier, More Awesome person. I have a whole list of resolutions and one time goals for my Awesomeness Project. I want to spend the year aiming to create more happiness, and thus, More Awesome, in my life. My resolutions range from silly personal things, like flossing every day, to things that will help me be a better girlfriend and friend. And in the next day or two, I’ll have a fancy chart on which to write out all these resolutions and gold star stickers to reward myself when I do a good job. Because one way to create more happiness is by not relying on other people to give me a pat on the back.

Ascendant

I just finished reading Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund. And I mean JUST, like literally set it aside two minutes ago, opened my laptop and started typing, just. I have that many Thoughts and Feelings about it.

Anyways. Ascendant is about killer unicorns and the superpowered, virginal, female descendents of Alexander the Great who hunt them. It’s the sequel to Rampant, which is also good and necessary for understanding wtf is going on in Ascendant.

I read Rampant a little over two years ago, and I enjoyed it. It was a fun read, but I didn’t LOVE it or anything. It’s entertaining. Peterfreund has this great version of unicorns that we don’t ever see, and the main character Astrid is kind of a badass. Plus there’s an awesome karkadaan (a giant unicorn) who totally saves the day and steals the show. Rampant is, more than anything, I think, an action adventure story. It’s all about Astrid and the other hunters dealing with the Reemergence of unicorns, which were thought to be extinct, so there are lots scenes of hunting training and then actual hunts, and that’s all cool and fun, but Ascendant really takes it to the next level.

Ascendant starts a three months after the events at the end of Rampant and deals with Astrid coming to terms with her distaste for killing unicorns. She tries to find an alternative use for her hunting powers that will help people without requiring her to kill unicorns on a regular basis, not to mention a job that doesn’t end in the possibility of death every time she goes out. She ends up with a cushy gig that she loves and that allows her to becoming familiar with a herd of captive unicorns. And she slowly begins to understand them more and more, realizing that she has to find a way to protect people from unicorns and unicorns from people.

Then tragedy strikes, and her entire world unravels. And this is where the book really REALLY grabbed me. I was enjoying everything up to this, but the ordeals Astrid goes through and the decisions she makes along the way turn this into a poignant story about finding oneself and doing the right thing.

I don’t want to give anything else away, so I’ll just say that while Ascendant is the FIRST book I have finished in 2012, there is a very good chance it will also become one of the BEST books I read in 2012. I loved it, and I just bought it from Amazon, in hardback, so I can have a matched set (also, I sort of feel like awesome, favorite books deserve a spot on my physical book shelf rather than just on my Kindle book shelf; like the physicality of the hardback book makes it more meaningful. Plus, the hard copy was cheaper than the ebook).

(Image borrowed from www.dianapeterfreund.com)