Monday, March 8, 2010

SELF: Day 22

Even more poignant than the images I've been seeing recently everywhere I look of darling men and women, guys and dolls, boys and girls in love love love with each other (yeah, yeah, I've turned into a fan of the ooey gooey stuff), are images like this...



They make me miss home and miss Les Girls and it really, really breaks my heart that they're so far away.

The SELF is faltering, folks (that's Serenity-Exercise-Love-Food, for those of you not following). I'm all E and F and no S and L. Well EF that! hahahahaa...that was funny. I'm laughing as I reread it. At least I'm cracking myself up. Let's recap the last few days...

The gym has been going really well. I find that I'm awake in my bed before the alarm goes off at the startlingly god-awfully early hour of 5:45. Workouts are going really well: we really push each other; push ourselves; and love to listen to the old Korean man who does pretty much every exercise wrong and yet finds reason to correct us when he feels like it.

This week while hitting the old pavement, I've breathed my way out of two massively intrusive side cramps and feel by the end of each run that I'm being pulled up the hill by my house. It's like I'm on one of those T-bars at a ski hill and if I just let go, Old Mechanical Faithful pulls me up. It's awesome. I'm physically exhausted, exacerbated by the fact that I just can't seem to crawl into bed before 10 each night, but, somehow I still feel physically great.

The Mother Hen's Husband, Doug, said once that if my mother eats too much salt, she bloats up like a blow fish. You can imagine how well that went over. Turns out it runs in the family. Last night I had ShabuShabu. It's just about the saltiest, most wonderful food that Korea has to offer. By the time the soup has evaporated and we've eaten the contents of the pot, the sludge that is left is just to die for. It's too salty, but I eat it anyway. By the time we get home though, it's time for bed, so my intake of water is paltry at best. I wake up like, well, a blow fish. Charming.

As for serenity, I can't find it lately. I've got so much on my mind in regards to the next phase and I just can't seem to get my act together. Procrastination has turned into a chronic issue, catapulting over the acute phase faster than I care to mention.

For example, even in writing this, I have to stop to share a completely random thought...imagine the sh*t show that will rain down when one (or both in a freaky double ceremony) of the Olsen Twins gets married? I would imagine they'd throw convention out the window and put on some sort of off-the-cuff, ostentatious show for the general public. See? THAT is what I'm thinking about. Sigh.


Back to Italy...I'm just sitting here, thinking that eventually the perfect job is just going to land in my lap. It's worked so far in my life, but I have a sinking suspicion that this time, it's a bit different. I have the positive attitude (well, I have a somewhat positive attitude. It would be even more positive if a job just landed in my lap), but the hard work was lost somewhere in the I-haven't-really-worked-since-December-31-and-I'm-getting-lazy shuffle. It sounds so simple: pull up my boot straps and just DO IT. Sounds simple, but I DON'T WANNA. Argh.

Oh a completely unrelated note, I emailed my friends and family and asked them to list ten things that make them happy. Identifying them not only makes ME happy, but them as well :) It's great to share the joy. I'm going to post these under a label with the word "HAPPY" or "HAPPINESS" in it. You can click on the label (in pink at the top) and read what everyone had to say about what brings it for them. LOVE IT! FEEL FREE TO SEND IN YOUR OWN LIST!

Remember: we all want matching tattoos.
Some of us are lucky enough to get 'em.




Last night we had quite the snowstorm (snow always reminds me of the ooey gooey stuff, hence the pic). I thought that perhaps, since the roads were incredibly icy and full of sleet this morning, that school could be canceled. No such luck, Roger. The kids are writing a national exam to test their English ability. It's way over their heads though, so they always get disheartened, but it means no teaching. Gives me ample opportunity to get 'er done, as Jackie would say.

Oh, and some terrific news...my old friend Andrew just got accepted to a residency program at the University of Toronto. He's been abroad at med school for far too long and he'll be back now. Wow...I remember when we were in MedSyd together in first year, studying in the Taylor Library, and sitting in the class where we learned about poaching on Safari in Africa. And now he's a doctor. Awesome. (Subtext: I'm not a doctor. Not quite as awesome...I'm just saying.)

Alright, the cutest thing ever just happened. My Korean Mother (sorry, Mum) just looked up after I sneezed about thirty-five times. She looked concerned and asked, "Are you okay?" Certainly I was. "Yes, I was just sneezing."

She responded, "And Alexis? When someone sneezes from your culture, I can say 'bless you'?"

I nodded.

She smiled. "Bless you."

I need to pull up those boot straps. I'm blessed, I'm happy, and the sun is shining. Time to turn on the happy.

No comments: