Speak Up: I can't hear you.

You know, I mentioned confrontation in the last entry.  Today, I bundled up. Put on long underwear. A neck wrap.  Gloves. I hopped on my bike and was doing surprisingly well considering the temperature.  Biking in the cold wasn't as bad as I thought. It was the wind that was the major challenge.

I also confronted a conversation that needed to be had. I faced it and well, I feel like progress was made.  I need to practice this more often. I think we all feel better and have a better understanding when we let go of fear and live in our truth. It's definitely something that requires practice. 

So overall, it was a good day and here are the highlights.

1. Making the phone call to confront one of the "glitches" and talking things through was great.
2. Talked to my dad.  This was one of the best conversations. Actually, they have all been rather good since we've had "the open and honest" conversation. In the conversation last night, I guess I was on a roll with talking about confronting issues.  We talked about my cousin and some remarks that were made regarding Hurricane Sandy.  I told my dad that the older I get, the less willing I am to be a bystander.  When things are important, it's time to put aside the anxiety and fear of being judged. That's what's wrong with plenty of people as it is!  Speak your truth.  Even if someone doesn't agree with your truth, it's fine because it's not theirs anyhow!
3. I loved that I biked 17 miles today as opposed to the 10 miles I originally thought I'd only do.  WOO! HOO!  That was over 1700 calories burned.
4. One of my favorite scenes in a movie:  Neo Meets the Oracle for the Second Time. Just when we thought we made a choice, did we really? hmmm  Ponder. hahaha
5. I love Daylight Savings Time.  I love it for different reasons now.  Because I can sleep longer.  Not that I even sleep a lot.  When I was in college I loved it because the bars would all stay open one extra hour.  These days I could totally care less about that. 

Biking is FUN-damental!

Ooh, what a day!  I got a fair amount done in the office, I chatted it up with a student whom I haven't seen in ages, got my fitness on and have peace and quiet in my house.  Ooh and something else really cool happened - but I am keeping that on the hush for now.

The last few months have been hit or miss with the blog.  In the spirit of the videos, "Shit Bougie Black Girls Say", I'ma need to do better.

Let's get back to business.

1. I biked an amazing 20 miles today after work.  I'm channeling James Brown only to say, "I FEEL GOOD!"
2. I got a phone call that gave me a lot of confidence.  I LOVE when that happens.
3. My housemate is just about moved out - to the extent that tonight he is no longer sleeping here. This is the first night I've slept with my bedroom door open since last May!.  YAY for solitude!
4. Apparently my graphic design skills are gettin' REALLY GOOD.  I designed something today as a favor for another office on campus all within 45 minutes.  I like when I can make folks happy with a product.
5. Speaking of products, a customer of mine just bought a third bracelet from me. She rocks!

26 Miles to go. I Want to be Sedated.

Today was an achievement.  My fitness achievement was on FIYAH!  So is my knee.  All that biking made my knee sore. It was a great day to be outside. I haven't biked this far in one day since last summer. Today is also my mom's birthday.  She would have been 67.  Whenever I think about it, it always seems like she only passed away just a couple of years ago.  It's actually been 12 years!  She's always in my head with the sayings she would say or things she would do.  Maybe that's why it never seems that long ago - I keep her memory alive.

At any rate -  let's get to the list, shall we?

1. Went biking with my housemate today.  We biked a total of 26 miles.  That was awesome.. and now my knee is killing me. hahaha I won't be biking for a few days but I burned 2600 calories!  that's also amazing in itself.
2. Who knew that the movie, "21 Jump Street" was going to be good as it was?  I know I didn't.  It was really enjoyable and I laughed out loud numerous times. 
3. I received an email from someone I dated and they apologized for something. That was pretty cool of them.  
4. Manassas Walgreen's stores close way too early.  Luckily I made it inside the store 5 minutes before they closed.
5. While in Walgreen's I picked up an all-natural sleep aid.  I took that pill and it knocked me right out.  I haven't slept that well in a long time - and I had knee pain!

Tuning In to My Inner Peace

Yeah, I've noticed.  These posts don't happen every day.  I've thought about why and I am concluding that it's because parts of my life are just overwhelming right now. To combat the feeling of being overwhelmed I have started biking.  There's nothing like breezing through the streets and trails and conquering a lot of miles.  I decided that if I'm going to bike I need to bike at LEAST 10 miles.  The next phase of overcoming this feeling is to just get over it and move on. hahaha Yes, it sounds simple and hopefully it is going to be simple.  I gotta come up with a master plan.  At any rate, there are still things I love each day - I just find it hard to make time to get in the frame of mind to post them.

1. When I woke up today I decided to take on a mission. That mission was to install my outdoor antenna.  I accomplished that task with excellent results!  Getting rid of cable has been an awesome experience and a financial coup since I didn't really watch many of those channels anyhow. With the new antenna I receive 45 channels. Oddly enough, I still only watch 2 - 3 of those channels. 
2. I love that I am good at meeting new people.  I am aware of this talent. Now if I can only translate that into something more. This leads me to a much larger thought that I'll keep to myself. hahaha
3. I went biking today and I was able to tackle some hills without a problem. I've gotten to those hills in the past and have always found them challenging.  I'm becoming a stronger biker.
4. Tonight was a Marshall University Phone-a-Friend day.  I heard from two of my college friends within an hour of one another. Very cool to hear from both of them and make potential plans for the future.
5. Today I noticed that a lot of people were being very friendly. It might be something that happens often or the fact that I was out and about early in the day before people get mean.  Whatever the case may be I loved that people exhibited kindness.

Jammin' on the One

  Hmmm... I wonder how many people will catch that reference in the title??  If you do, post the answer in the comments. :0) Today was just a great day all around... It was JAMMIN.. and it needed to be because this past week was a HOT ASS MESS... a H.A.M. if you will.  But today was nothing but rainbows and daffodils.  hahaha

1. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”― Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poem.  I saw this quote and loved it instantly!  Think about it...  
2. I rode 20 miles on my bike today and lived to talk about it!  YAY! Myra was good company. The WOD Trail had a few hills but it was cool riding it - might I mention that it's a paved trail?   
3. On the bike ride we stopped at Amphora... a delicious little place in Vienna, VA.  I ordered the Asian Chicken Salad.  It was the BOMB DIGGITY! I highly recommend.
4. I had a very memorable first date tonight. We tried out a new restaurant in the area called Absolute BBQ.  Good food.. but let me just say that I haven't felt like the one lone chocolate chip in a LONG while until tonight. LOL  Not a single black person in that place other than myself.  Even my date noticed.  To top it off.. they had live COUNTRY music.   Well, we both survived and I actually knew a lot of the songs they were singing.  I mean, I DID live in West Virginia for nearly a decade!
5. My Teena Marie station on Pandora is JAMMIN! 

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Today I challenged myself to a biking adventure.  I'm gearing up for cycling season and wanted to bike to work.  Normally it's a 16 miles trip but I drove part of the way and cycled the rest.  7.5 miles covered in one direction and I had to ride back to my car!  Man, what a way to kick off this fitness program. I am exhausted!

1. What I loved about biking is that I burned nearly 1500 calories!  That's awesome! 
2. Since I burned so many calories I decided to treat myself to a Blooming Onion from Outback Steakhouse.  Oh my, how delicious!
3. I discovered Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu Plus - I keep finding these old classics.  The thing about this classic is that I've never watched it before. I'm enjoying each episode!  Classic Comedy - much different than most of the shows on TV today.
4. The weather today was awesome for a bike ride - 72 degrees. I'm glad it was cool (and breezy) because biking on those hills had me sweating. If it were warmer I can only imagine how much sweating I would have done. lol
5. This was the first time in a long time that I was home fairly early.  I was home before the NBC Nightly News came on. Now THAT'S early!

Great Deals and Things of that Nature

Who says you can't get a lot done when you only have 4 hours of sleep?  haha!  I was exhausted when I woke up today but I had plans.  I wanted to get to REI and check out there Attic Sale and I had plans to help a friend look for a bicycle.  He's planning to get fit and I convinced him to do bike with us on the W O D Trail this coming weekend.  I'm excited about that!

1. I had a great time hanging out with my friend from work. Bike shopping and just regular shopping was cool. Always nice to expand my group of friends.
2. We stopped by the bike shop and met the owner.  He was pretty chill and seems on the up and up.  I'm definitely going to take my business to him from now on. 
3. Made a stop at Dick's Sporting Goods and scored a pair of Reebok shoes for $5!  Can you believe that?  I love a good deal! 
4. It was a busy night for phone calls.  I guess it was better than NOT getting phone calls. hahaha So that's something worth loving.
5. One call that I got tonight was from my brother - he's finally sending me that Timbuk2 Messenger Bag! YAY!  I'm excited. These bags are expensive and since I'm getting it for free.. it's a GREAT DEAL!

The Beginning of the End

Today I came to a conclusion - This blog will have to end at some point.  I need an end date. Finality. This way I will have achieved a goal.  That new goal is to have 365 posts.  This way I will have accounted for one year of listing the things I love each day.  I'm nearing 200 posts and this all occurred to me.  Some days I list "similar" things I love. Some days have more unique entries. So there you have it - a pending conclusion.

1. The weather was awesome today.  Made me think of biking this weekend. My friend told me that she was up for a bike ride next weekend. Then another friend mentioned that he thought about buying a bike and I told him that I would go look for one with him on Sunday so that he could bike with us next weekend. I love that others are wanting to bike with me this year!
2. Second workout of the week happened TODAY!! WOO HOO!
3. I enjoyed the "office party" in Rosanna's office.  Good times! 
4. I talked to my friend from bowling about going out tomorrow night and we're hittin' the town! I think this will be a fun night out.
5. I made a new style of bracelet tonight after swooping into AC Moore and picking up some new cord. I'm diggin' the new style.  Hopefully others will, too.

Ooh.. and I have another one to add - I love the Mormon episode of Southpark. It is hilarious.  It came to mind when I saw a friend on Facebook like the musical, "The Book of Mormon". hahaha