Zen master who, asked if his practice of self-insight had enabled him to work miracles, replied, “My miracle is, I eat when I’m hungry, I sleep when I’m tired.”
From the article:
A Psychology of the Miraculous
By:Marc Barasch
[Private Content Removed]
Friday night I was up late copying my data off my old PC so that I could take it back to Santa Rosa for mom. I ended up staying home and then getting up around 6 or 7 am and driving to Santa Rosa. Mom didn’t expect me until noonish, so I ended up having time getting her data moved over to the new computer and the DSL all set up. Mom thankfully did the driving out to Van Damme State Park, which was a really pretty drive. Everyone got back from kayaking shortly after we arrived, so we all went to Mendocino to get some lunch and then wander the shops. My cousins and I explored the plateau on the edge of town and took a bunch of photos. AG even let me try out his new Canon Rebel XTi. *drool*
I had a ton of flamed marshmallows that night. The next day we went on a hike (2.5 miles each way) and again took a lot of photos. AG and I were the slowest ones since we kept stopping to take pictures.
After that we had to pack up and head out. We decided to try to go see the Pygmy Forest, but we didn’t have good directions. After two tries at finding it we went back to Mendocino for lunch at the ice cream/pizza shop that mom’s friend owns and runs. We wandered town a little bit, and finally found someone who knew the way to the pygmy forest. We’d actually been going the right way the second try, but hadn’t gone far enough. So we finally made it there, and it was very unimpressive, but at least we can say we’ve been there and done that! After that was the ride back to Santa Rosa, and then the drive back to Davis.
The park and Mendocino were both nice, I’d definitely like to go back again sometime and take more time to explore the town and also make it to the beach.
The flickr photo set.
Breaking this up a tad rather than having just one hanging long post.
May 28: Yay for three day weekends. Much sleeping, anime, and chores. Karaoke plans for tonight got cancelled, so instead I’m catching up on my blog. 
May 25: Applied for 34 campus jobs. I’m skipping yoga today, I totally forgot about it and no way will the pants I’m wearing today work. I’m SO glad the headache is gone since I volunteered to be a driver for the beginner dance out at spotlight tonight. Today’s workout is now after work, sprints. I’m going to give it a try at least once…. then if I hate it as much as I think I will I just won’t go in the future. Part of being into these morning workouts is that they get me up and on campus before work, so I actually show up to work on time. That and I have the energy to workout in the morning. By the end of the day at work I’m sapped usually. Even if I wasn’t being productive, just sitting in the office all day trying to stay not too cold and not hot and make sure my back doesn’t start hurting drains me.
Sprinting is probably no more than 20 minutes, if I even survive that long, then I’m going home, shower, eat, play with the cats…. get dressed, then drive to the Silo to pick people up for the beginner’s dance tonight at Spotlight. I’m getting in free though for driving since they were desperate for drivers. Bad directions led to driving around in Natomas for 45 minutes trying to find the place. We left at 6:55…. got there at 8:20. We’d have been on time even with stopping for gas if the map had been good. Thankfully the folks in my car didn’t mind missing the lesson much.
May 24: Woke up with the headache from yesterday STILL. And it had gone away…. but it came back with the heat/sun biking in. It makes me want to dig that part of my head out to get rid of the pain. I was almost in tears on the way home from dance class last night it was so bad at that point.
May 23: Lunch today is going to be tomato, olive and basil salad since I had a bunch leftover even after making the pizza. Kinda headachy today, probably from being sore from weight training. Hopefully the hr site is up so I can get those job apps in. And I really need to finish that Studio66 one since that’s the one that really sounds like my dream job (assuming they A - let me telecommute, or B - pay enough to make up for not doing so). I managed to post to my product blog, I really gotta start doing that at least once a day, even if I manage to get traffic, it’s not gonna return if I never update it! Ran some errands after work with Meow before dance class. Petco had a new litter for me to try (my old one isn’t sold in CA anymore) but Big 5 didn’t have the weight training gloves I was looking for.
May 22: Made pizza for me and Meow to use up the fresh veggies and stuff left from the party. Pillsbury pizza dough is pretty boring. My back is acting up still with all the sitting even with adding in weight training 3-4 times a week and yoga once a week.
May 21: Took a nap and still managed to wake up and go to G St. Pub for karaoke night with MS. Got there just as he started his first song around 9:30. It was actually pretty fun, so I might try to go back sometime. Seemed like a mellow and friendly crowd.
May 19: Italian theme potluck dinner party at my place. The pestos I made turned out ok even though my blender died and I had to try to fit them into my food processor. Lots of good food and company. We mostly hung out talking, though we did get into playing with J&SP’s Wii later on.
May 18: I saw the poodle guy and stopped to ask his contact information (to finish reporting him to the police - which I had gotten started the night before) but we talked for a while and he apologized and stuff, so I’m feeling ok about things now. I only felt the need to report him to be sure that he knew what happened was wrong and was his fault and so that he’d be more careful in the future. He admitted it was his fault, and he explained that he took off because he wanted to get the dogs away from the birds, and apologized for it happening and for me having to deal with it also, and said that he had cried about it at home and felt really bad about it. Also he had the small muzzle loops on them and was holding them closer to him today too, so it seems like he’s honestly trying to be more careful.
Actually made it to the gym pretty much on time still, even though I was up late working on my resume and looking at jobs. I slept pretty well considering I didn’t take my night meds since I forgot until 11 or 12 and wanted to be able to get up on time in the morning.
I’m only leaving this job for one of two things - another job on campus to finish out my 9 months to get vested, or my dream job that I just can’t pass up. And that involves being allowed to telecommute 60-100% of the time. That or crazy high pay to make up for having to be in the office maybe….
Went to the bike shop for a new chain, and managed to find a longer one, and it ended up being free with my reward points. So losing my old short chain turned out to be a good thing.
Watched Steel Angel Kurumi before going to bed. Season one was surprisingly good. Season two was so horrifingly bad that it was actually funny.
May 17: So I got home last night, found out I’d dropped my bike chain somewhere…. rode all the way back to campus. No chain. Rode home again and was in by 10:50pm. Didn’t get to sleep till shortly before 1am. Got up this morning and heading in to workout - only running about 30-40 minutes late, which would have still meant an hour to workout. Saw this guy with the big white and big brown poodles walking them. Saw him let them attack two fledgeling ducks. White one dropped its duckling right away and it seemed to escape ok. Brown one wouldn’t drop his. (I’m turning around and biking over during all this.) After a minute or so he finally dropped it and the duck and the guy walks off and just leaves it. I got to the duck and managed to wrap it up in my jacket and start walking with it in one arm and walking my bike with the other. I don’t know if it died in my arms or passed out from shock. I get to the alumni center and they call the vet med for me and let me leave my bike. In the parking lot by Mrak as I’m walking I see a TAPS truck and the guy gave me a ride to the vet center. I dropped off the duck and then had to walk back and get my bike. Hit Meow’s office right at 10 and call in to work. Called Meow to see where he was and walked out to meet him coming in, finally let myself cry (all over him) and then made it in to my office around 10:40. Emailed my apologies for missing the workout. And my pirate is in the middle of flying to India and won’t be back till June 4th.
Today is a free alumni lunch thingy Meow and I are going to. I think the catering is by Fuzio’s, so it should be yummy.
I’m actually doing a lot better with this than I would have in the past, the time I saw the tarp covered motorcyclist on the way in to work I was useless over half the day. This I managed to get in a good five minute sob, maybe another 30 minutes of just talking and hanging out with Meow and I’m feeling in control again. I’m not happy, but I’m not going to be fighting tears for the rest of the day either
May 16: I found out I only need about 9 more months of work on campus to be vested in the retirement system, so I’m looking at other jobs on campus since I realized I can work at any job on campus for those 9 months.Running out of slimfast + weening off one of my antidepressants + forgetting vitamins + not sleeping well + pms + finding out I won’t ever be allowed to telecommute made for a super crappy week last week.
I’m looking at practically all the jobs on campus, as long as they can pay what I’m getting now or more. I don’t really care what I do at this point other than getting out of here and just getting my 9 months done with. I’m pissed that it took them 5 years to admit they weren’t going to let me telecommute. And feeling totally unappreciated. On the one hand I feel bad slacking off…. on the other hand, I’m so pissed at them I have no desire to be productive. I can’t deal with feeling that way for 9 months. So for my own mental health, I need a job that I actually won’t mind doing.
Hamstrings & triceps are sore from the workouts this week, but that a good thing since they really needed work. Workouts in the morning are definitely helping me get up and get to campus earlier.
May 15: Went with my pirate to get his hair cut, and then he left for S.J. to get ready for leaving for India for two weeks.
May 12 - 13: Went to San Jose with my pirate to surprise his mom for mother’s day. We did some shopping Saturday and then went to his aunt’s for dinner. Sunday we went to Carmel for lunch and wandered around a bit. Stuff there was crazy expensive!
May 11: Whole earth festival is this weekend. I wandered through on my way back from yoga class. I’m also actually enjoying doing weight training with free weights and company. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, plus with climbing I’m seeing fast results from it even though I can’t see any differences just looking.
May 10: We had our college staff appreciation. Soft gooey brownies with icing and white chocolate chips. Cookies & fresh fruit and root beer floats. Yum. Though I only had a bite of cookie and of Meow’s float. The fruit and brownies were way better. I’m headachy again/still today, but no way am I giving up climbing tonight.
May 9: Woke up with a big headache from tense/sore muscles (or allergies, not sure). But I’m down to 135 and I fit into my slacks again. Just in time for the hotter weather too. I have some jobs to apply for tonight, not a ton, but it’s a start. With the headache I probably shouldn’t have walked out to the TGFS (Thank Goodness For Staff) thing and back, but hey, free ice cream sandwiches and brownies are hard to pass up. I had fruit too, but I brought the rest of the food back for my pirate since he tends to forget to eat. Dropped my schedule down to 10-5 so I have more time to job hunt.
May 8: Checked on my last option for staying at my job and it’s a no go (twice the pay so I could cut back to 1/2 time without telecommuting), so I’m gonna start applying for stuff tomorrow while I’m at work. I need to work on the new freelance job I got, but tonight I’m making dinner for my pirate and his coworker. Grilled steak, shrimp and veggies on my stovetop grill. Turned out pretty well!
May 5: EA came to visit since she was up from So. Cal. Yay! We had a late breakfast/early lunch at Crepeville. After she left I went to hang out and watch anime with MM since we hadn’t done that in a while.
May 4: 6 months with my pirate! 
:D He surprised me with dinner reservations at The Melting Pot. And they made us wait 30-45 minutes so they also gave us a free round of drinks, so I was able to try the two that looked really yummy. The food was great and it was fun to cook, and dessert was awesome. All in all a fabulous night!
May 3: Took Meow out to lunch today for his birthday, my pirate and one of his friends joined us too. We went to Mirai, and I found out their chicken katsu sucks. I sent it back because the chicken was still pink… and it came out the same way again. Bleh.
May 2: Had lunch at Sushi Nobu with my pirate, his coworker and an ex of mine. My ex was in town getting his oil changed and hadn’t been there yet. We just recently got back in touch after having lost contact for a long while.
May 1: I’m having to be more careful about eating junk food, since I’ve been eating way healthier lately, the yummy but unhealthy stuff has started to bother me if I eat too much, like the pizza I had when dad visited. :/
I’m trying out taking five hours off a week and working 10-6 since I was getting sick of having to call in every single morning. I asked about telecommuting again, and they finally said (after keeping me waiting FIVE YEARS) that I’ll never be allowed to telecommute. I’m applying for new jobs now since I know that I won’t be totally satisfied with my job as long as they won’t let me telecommute. I have 9 months till I’m vested in the retirement system since I worked part time for a while. I’m applying for every job on campus that pays well enough and that I think I might be able to do though just to get away from them since I’m so pissed about being lead on for so long. And because they CAN let me telecommute, they just don’t want to bother going through the effort or setting the precedent.
I’m probably going to start going to the gym in the morning with my pirate so that I have a reason to get to campus early, and then I can wander Putah Creek for an hour or surf the web or whatever to kill time after that before work and enjoy the weather in the morning.
I got about $400 in checks in the mail for refunds for over-payments on the house, so I can pay off my dishwasher even before I get my tax return. Yay! And I just transferred everything from my highest apr card to one that will be 0% for the life of the balance, and one that will be 4.99% for the life of the balance. So paying lower finance charges will help me pay off my debt faster.
And my doc ok’d seeing how I do with not taking my morning med at all since I was doing fine on a half dose.
I’m going to start the easy way by pulling stuff from my emails as I clean up my inbox.
April 30: Finally got my love seat moved to my office. Yay!April 27 - 29: Camping trip gets its own post.
April 25 - Farmer’s market for supplies, then cooked dinner (purple potato soup, angel hair pasta & chicken breast with cilantro pesto) for me and Meow before I had to get back to campus for my dance class.
Also: Ewe’ve been conned ladies:
THOUSANDS of rich women were conned by a firm into believing LAMBS were valuable miniature POODLES.Entire flocks were imported to Japan from the UK and Australia then sold by the internet company as the latest “must have” pet.
April 24 - $1 cone night with TC and delish brownies her sister made. They lasted only 2 or 3 days. Brownies are my cryptonite.
April 21 - Strawberry festival was lame-o and over priced, so we know not to go back to that one. But dinner at Tahoe Joe’s was good, Hot Fuzz (movie) was great, and then yummy Leatherby’s ice cream.
Finally went back to a more symmetrical haircut for now. And my pirate’s looks good too. Plus she did it short enough that he won’t start hating it and want another one as soon, unlike his other stylist. And I got my climbing gloves from REI.
April 20 - I had to get EHS (Enviromental Health and Safety) to come by and they got me permission to close my door and see if that keeps my office from getting too cold. I’m hoping it will cause that was really getting on my nerves. My fingers shouldn’t be turning blue and painful with cold, especially when it’s so nice outside! I tried asking work to order some fingerless usb gloves to keep my hands warm, they said no and to call HVAC (the heating/air people) and they told me to call EHS. And all that could have been avoided by just agreeing to get a $20 pair of gloves. Sheesh!
April 19 - Went out for lunch with MM which is always good. Looking into getting into the Big Brother/Big Sister program finally (speaking of, I haven’t heard back yet… I should check again). Mostly I’m just wanting children in my life. My cousin and her kids live too far away, and I don’t really know anyone nearby with kids, so babysitting doesn’t seem really appealing. Doing childcare at church is something I’ve missed since I first came to Davis, so it’s good to finally feel like I have the time and energy to make the 1 year commitment the Big program requires.
April 17 - Finally caught up on dishes with the new washer, though there is a small stack left with hard water stains. Dish soap + baking soda works great for that though! Windy, but with the Singulair, biking into the wind doesn’t trigger my asthma anymore. Sleeping better with doubling my night meds, and doing ok with halving my morning meds so far.
I’ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster lately, but I plan to get caught up after my dinner party tonight…. or tomorrow depending on how late things run. For now, back to cleaning!
I was browsing flickr photos today, and with one person’s photos, I couldn’t add them as favs. I found out it was because I’m being blocked. I really have no idea why, as I rarely comment on pictures and mostly just fav them, and I’m not even sure I’ve seen this person’s photos before. The stupid part is that rather than faving their photos… I’m just going to screen shot them instead. It’s a tad more hassle for me, but not much, and it’s no recognition on flickr for them. Oh well, their loss.
From a comment on a post about diet tips:
I read a great quote on WebMD that said, “There’s a difference between indulgence and overindulgence.”
The whole thing:
15 Best Diet Tips Ever
By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature
I’ve been using many of them without having seen this list before.
The ones I use are:
Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages.
Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.
Best Diet Tip No. 3: Consider whether you’re really hungry.
Best Diet Tip No. 5: Enjoy your favorite foods.
Best Diet Tip No. 6: Enjoy your treats away from home.
Best Diet Tip No. 7: Eat several mini-meals during the day.
Best Diet Tip No. 10: Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods.
Best Diet Tip No. 11: Order children’s portions at restaurants. (unfortunately, many places won’t allow this, so I have to settle for ordering sides, or stuff that keeps well so I can box half or more of it up, or share with someone)
Best Diet Tip No. 12: Eat foods in season.
Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress. (Though this really ties into #3 for me - am I really hungry, or am I craving food out of stress/boredom?)
Best Diet Tip No. 15: Be physically active.
Read the whole article for hows & whys and for the rest of the tips.
