The M&M experiment

Today while picking up a fountain soda at the local 7-11 (it was a dreary day and additional caffeine was called for...don't judge me), there was a Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal on M&M's. Normally, I wouldn't even glance at this "sale", but they featured the new M&M flavors--coconut and pretzel. I was intrigued. I decided an M&M Tasting (or Experiement) was needed to determine if these new flavors could stand up to the classics- plain and peanut. The "free" bag was a plain bag for comparison sake.

Now, I am not a daily chocolate person (like others I know and love) but do enjoy a sweet and sugary pick-me-up when needed! A dear friend once noted that the combo of a Coke & plan M&M's was like the equivolent of crack for real people. On an event, I have been known to make an M&M run for the necessary suagr that one can require when staying awake for 20 hours, three days in a row. The peanut-butter variety is my current favorite because they are soft and teeth covered in metal need a little soft. That said, I still don't deem the peanut-butter a "real" M&M. It was a successful experiment that I very much enjoy.

So, back to the story. I left the 7-11 with the soda and the three mini-bags of M&M's. (It's a fat kid dream and a nutrionist's nightmare.) So, I got home and got the "tasting" ready- 3 of each type and a glass of water. First, the pretzel (Mostly, because I think the commercials are kind of fun), sip of water; then the coconut; sip of water; and lastly the plain.

My notes--The Pretzel M&M was okay. A little salty-sweet. Not terrible, but I am not rushing back for more. And in the future if I am craving a salty-sweet chocolate snack, I'll get chocoltae covered pretzels from Trader Joes (YUMMY!).

The Coconut M&M was not bad, but didn't quite make it to okay status. The coconut inside the M&M was hard. In my opinion, coconut inside a candy should be ooey-gooey and chewey, not hard. It should be noted that I heart coconut candy. (I actually love eating those pink, white, and brown coconut candies that no one else will ever eat...LOVE them! )

So, there it is. The Great M&M experiment.

My final conclusion: M&M's should stick to what they know-- chocolate and peanuts. Feel free to experiment on your own, it'll make your to-do list shrink almost instantly because you are so amped up (or that could be just me)!

Date Night

Today, I decided to take myself on a date. Yep, that's right! single gal in the city, enjoying some time alone. And it was delightful. Really, it started out just as a movie, but became the quintessential Saturday date night.

When I first moved to Phoenix and didn't know anyone, I always felt like I was missing out because I never saw the movies that played in theatres. Until one day, I thought to myself, "I am a grown-up and I am confident. I can go to a movie alone." I did it then and realized sometimes it's just nice to have an afternoon alone (even when other people might be interested). It's nice to be in a theatre and enjoy the movie. On the other hand, there are great things to be said for going with a friend. It was sunny, but chilly in Seattle today. Not a great day to head to the beach, or go paddle-boarding, or even hanging out at a park with a good book. So, I decided to go check out, "Eat, Pray, Love". I loved the book and thought the movie could be fun. I was right. Enjoyable. Even if you haven't read the book, you'll appreciate the story. While entertaining, it was a bit on the long side. (2.5 hours to be exact). It didn't feel that long, but afterward I was starving! (No popcorn for dinner when you have braces, I am sad to say.)

I decided to go to dinner. Not pick something up and take it home, but really go out to dinner alone. Now, outside of when I travel for work I don't normally eat alone. The idea of eating alone at a restaurant makes me uneasy. Asking for a table for one when I am "home", just seems sad and a little pathetic. But there was an amazing review of a sushi place in the paper today and it peaked my interest. And it was "old lady" dinner time (5:45pm) so I knew there wouldn't be a huge line. So I went. And it was GREAT! The food was delish! The service incredible. Oh, and I got a free roll because they were experimenting--Love it! I never once felt uncomfortable or uneasy. No one was staring at me. I didn't feel any pity coming my way. Instead I felt like a woman about town- sophisticated and cool. No one needs to know that my big evening plan was to go to Target. They could assume and make up a story that I was going to head to some big party and tell all the people there about the great new sushi place in Seattle. (which will happen at brunch tomorrow with the girls).

Oh, and I went to Target. What's not to love? (Someday I will explain my extreme love for that big box store.) All-in-all, my "date night" was great. I enjoyed a good movie and a yummy dinner. I had a good time and I think I will definately do it again sometime!

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As an aside---

When recently trying to answer some questions about my city for a friend's blog (http://lettersandlists.blogspot.com/), I realized I do not know nearly enough about the place I now call home. So with that in mind, I have decided that I will become a tourist in my town and check out something new and interesting about Seattle on weekends that I am home. It'll be home-town adventures!

Even in Australia

Do you remember the book, "Alexander and the no good, very bad day"?
It was a favorite in my house growing up because my little bro's name is Alexander. When we were little we thought it was a book written just for him. In my little kid mind, I was very sad that no one thought to write a book specifically for me. Anyway, I digress... Back to my point. if you don't remember, the book is about this kid who has bad things happen to him all day. At one point, he thinks about moving to Australia, but at the end he sees "even bad days happen in Australia". The book is reminiscent of my day. Today was Jessica and the no good, very bad day. Okay, maybe not very bad but definately not very good. Today started off going well. I started out with good coffee, nice breezes, and a good chat with a collegue. I had high hopes. Maybe that's where I went wrong...

When I went to do laundry this morning, I had THE incident with a spider. Now let me explain--since moving to Seattle I have had many encounters with spiders and the like. I started to realize why H has such a huge fear. (I really never understood it before moving to her old stomping grounds.) Spiders in Seattle are scary. They are big, mean, "I'm going to eat your face" kind of spiders, not the wimpy daddy-long-legs who seem friendly (like Charlotte) that I had in Phoenix. Because of the frequency of incidents, I have a system in place to kill said spiders in my home. I bombed the place, but it seems the spiders really like my cozy cottage, so I use the newpaper and move them to the great outdoors where they belong. Spiders outside are a different story. They create amazing webs to catch bugs, but often have caught me instead. (My laundry room is outside the back door in it's own little room). That said I typically check where I am walking when I exit my home. Today I forgot. Big mistake.

I am out of practice, since I have been gone for a month. Today I just willy-nilly walked out to do laundry and walked smack-dab into the middle of a gargantuan spider web with the spider still in it! And while that is traumatic enough, it gets worse. The spider ended up on my face! (Insert chilly-willies here...ugh!). I felt like I was in a scene from a movie. I dropped my laundry immediately and just screamed. Swatted the spider away and promptly stepped on it. (For those Buddhists out there, this is not a common practice). I then proceded to walk (er, run) immediately indoors and shower! Blech! (For those who care, I did leave the laundry on the ground until after the shower and when I came back out I was very ready!).

I hope, dear reader, that you now understand THE incident. I hope it was THE one and only wherein a spider is on my person, specificially my face!

Following that episode, I thought it would be an uneventful day. wrong again. There were no more instances with bugs, animals or nature, but just a bummer of a doctor appointment. Doctor appointments are a VERY regular part of my life at home. I think one of the things I like best about my travel schedule is that I can live in denial about anything actually being wrong with me. However, when I come home and see one of the "ologists" (my term of endearment for myteam of doctors), reality rudely hits me smack in the face (similar to the spider this morning).
As I said, when I travel I forget (or try to) that I need to take it a little slower than most 30-year olds. I tend to ignore that everyone doesn't wake up stiff and sore everyday. I forget that most everyone can run, sit Indian-style, and get easily to the floor (and up again). I mean, don't get me wrong, there are always little reminders, but I push them aside. I just take the road less traveled (usually the longer way isn't as rocky). I just think of my stiffness as a result of being up for 22 hours of a 24 hour day. And I pull up a chair rather than sit on the floor. Easy fixes. I also work on an event where we work because 1 in 8 people get diagnosed with a disease that could kill you. It's a daily reality check that I am lucky. I am alive and basically well. I just need to readjust my gauge for "normal".

That readjusted gauge for "normal" and the silver-lining of things are typically how I go through life. It could always be worse. And who wants to be friends with a person who is constantly whining? I know I sure don't. Plus, if I complained about how unfair this life is that I was dealt and wanted a redo, there would be so much that I would miss and so much I would never change or give up! But that is a story for another day.

Though my normal life is lined with silver, I do have days where I do feel bad for myself and wallow just a little and wish that things could be different. Today is one of those days. I saw the "bone ologist" (Yes, I know the actualy name but "bone ologist" is just more fun). She is a lovely woman and very smart. Her words to me today were, "You are a mystery". Throughout our conversations, she kept avoiding the words weird, unusual, rare, and unknown. I know this because she would start to say them and then find something different to say. Today she told me that she is still unsure of the reasons why I ache and swell, and lose bone movement. She took my case to a panel (kind of cool) and they found me "perplexing". When some of the smartest minds are perplexed, it doesn't do much to provide hope or a silver-lining. My old doctor called me a walking science experiment and wanted to write a book about me. For intellectuals, this is a nerdy kind of cool. And my nerdy side thinks so too. I am fasciated by the reasons why I am this way and what could work to make it better. Most days I move along and just think, this is my life and it's good. But, on days like today- the no good, very bad day kind of days, I just want to be "normal". Questions that I normally don't allow to come to the surface arise. Questions like- "who will ever love me when I am this broken?", "what would my life have become without this illness?", "what adventures will I miss out on because something degenerates so much it creates a serious disability?". Those are not questions I want to ask. Those are questions no person should have to ask. Those are questions for a no-good, very bad day. Even in Australia.

I hope tomorrow is lined in silver and there are no spiders!

Terminals, Airports, and seat-mates...oh my!

And back to airports, airplanes and the random ways people travel. If you really think about it, airline travel is little more than a flying city bus. Poeple may have paid more for their tickets, but their habits are not that different. In fact, I often wonder why I feel it's okay to abandon all my belongings when I brave the bathroom or why I am not completely repulsed when the person sitting next to me starts to snore. (It is annoying, but I don't find it disgusting as I would in a bus or other public transit situation.) There are rules, guidelines and siggestions, but genreally I have found people abandon all good common sense and decency when entering an airport terminal or airplane. And that brings me to yesterday's experiences...
Experience One-- I arrived at the airport insanely early due to a wedding, so my dropoff time was about 2 hours before take-off. On a low-travel day like Saturday that leaves lots of time in the terminal. I grabbed a coffee, bought a newspaper (I like to be a little old school) and settled in near a window. People started to pile in, but this was a HUGE gate area, so it was still calm. Then I started to hear it...the snoring, like I have never heard. We were in a terminal, not a bedroom or even a couch. This man was completely out! I smirked a little and just cranked up the tunes and tuned him right out! Win- Jessica! I swear, it got louder! I am not sure how this was possible, but it really got loud. So loud, in fact, that a little girl nearby asked her mother where the train was because she could hear the engine! Yep, that's right. The man was snoring SO loudly that a child thought she was going on a train ride rather than an airplane. Several people in the area heard her and just cracked up. It's all about perspective. :) After I stopped laughing, my thought was that surely this man was going to be my seat-mate. Ugh. But as luck should have it, he had missed his plane to Madison and wasn't going to Chicago at all. Whew! That was close....
Or so I thought. The flight to Chicago was uneventful and nice actually. I had a full row to myself. Delightful! I wondered if my luck might remain on the Seattle leg and got a little bit excited. Sadly, no. Although my status now allows me to be automatically seated in the exit row, the planes are still FULL. I would say, as a rule, I am an excellent person to be seated next to. I don't take up overhead bin space (my stuff fits under the seat), I keep to myself, plug in my iPod, and read. Sometimes I sleep, but within my seat. I don't spread out and I am not large enough to expand into my seat-mates' space. Unfortunately, I have found that this done not guaratee a good space experience, even in the exit row! I was the in the aisle so I was seated last in the succession of my seat-mates. The man seated in the middle seat looked pissed when I went to sit down. He clearly planned to take-over two seats on the 3.5 hour flight from Chicago to Seattle. I settled in, opened my book and kept my arms within the confines of the armreast areas. As we reached the appropriate altitude said man got out his computer and started to work. He proceded to elbow me for a solid 20 minutes because he couldn't figure out how to open the table. UGH! Not only was it annoying, but it hurt. (I cracked a rib last week and it's still tender- I will tell that story soon). So instead of arguing with him, I simply leaned into the aisle a little more. Big mistake! The man decided that this was now his space. He leaned over and took up all his space, part of my space and part of the space on his other side. Uncool! I went to the bathroom (carelessly abandoning my things) and when I returned he had literally taken over my space. I am not a large person or mean, for that matter, but I decided enough was enough! The cart was coming down the aisle and I needed to be in my seat, not the aisle, so I did what any mature person would do and played elbow hockey for the duration of the flight. I know, mature. He never got it. Now, I travel enough to see patterns. Women never take over other people's space (unless they really are just too large for the seat), it's always men. Now I don't mean to bash men. I like men as much as the next gal, but I want my own space on an airplane! So, to all of you who read this (all 3 of you...) spread the word, here are the beginnings of the Airplane Rules and Etiquette:
1. As the flight attendants suggest, overhead bin space should be reserved for large bags, not your coat or hat. If there is space remaining, then place said item in the overhead space. Until then it stays in your lap on the floor in front of you.
2. If you sit in the aisle seat, please remember that you are going to have to get up many, many times so your fellow passengers can get out. Deal!
3. Armrests-- There are rules. Here we go. The window seat uses the armrest closest to the window, the middle seat uses the armrest closest to the window and the aisle seat using the armrest away from the aisle. The aisle armrest is not a usable space. People walk past, carts bump, it's just not a good space.
Basically, all I ask for with these rules and of my fellow passengers is a little common sense and common courtesy. Remember what you learned in Kindergarten? Nap time, show-and-tell, and sharing...bring it forward in your life. It'll make things so much more pleasant for those who come into contact with you.

Another one bites the dust...

Well, anyone that knows me knows that I cannot seem to avoid leaving toiletry items at locations following my adventures. A friend challenged me with keeping the same razor and shampoo, etc for the duration of ym busy travel season this year. As of last week, I was stoked to realize I have made it through 4 hotel stays, 4 bus tranisitons, 12 shower truck experiences, and a few trips to alternate shower locations (friends' homes, parents' house, etc). I was feeling REALLY good about the fact that I had made all these transitions and still had the same shampoo container and the SAME razor. Until yesterday...(insert a very sad face here). I am on the vacation portion of this adventure (hooray!) and went to shower after blueberry picking. I realized I had abandoned another toiletry item in some location. Very sad.

My friend should have placed a bet because she has won. The universe has one more abandoned item....

Adventures before 10am...

Yesterday was Day One of the Chicago 3-Day for the Cure event. The ceremony started on time (3 weeks in a row!) and the day began with 1600 walkers, 450 crew and 35 staff plus some special guests....

My day was planned to be a little short out on the route, but special ops came up.

There was a flood of water at Grab A and some surprises along the route---
Whoops!

Before 10am, I played the role of Minnie Mouse, town engineer, police officer and construction worker. Really, it wouldn't be an event without a coning mission!

Let's get Day two rolling...it's Shower Saturday!

Ah, Cleveland!

Well, I am already a few days behind. Shocker!

By this time I am already in Chicago. I have endured some drama, some rama, and of course, some fun! Here is a brief synopsis of the last week....

What trip would be complete without a trip (or many) to Kinkos? Each city I venture to includes at least two trips to a Kinko's location. And no trip to a Kinkos* is complete without some form of entertainment. This trip was no different.

As I was waiting for the line to die down (I mean two people is a lot to handle), I was directly behind a real-life "Glamour don't". For those of you who do not know what that means, take an adventure to your local drug store and pick up a copy of Glamour magazine. Not only will you find helpful tips on your next season's fashions, women's issues, but you will find the famous (and funny) Glamour don'ts page. Let's just say--no one should be on that page! Eeks!

I snuck this photo by pretending to check email. :) Enjoy!

Of course, one trip to Kinko's in a day is clearly not enough. Buzz-buzz and I ventured back. But in the meantime, we spent some time with a few of the "favorites". We ate too much, laughed a lot, and enjoyed a little time in downtown Cleveland.

Following the fun, it was time to pack it up and get ready for the event. We moved onto the buses and set the alarms for 3:40am. (It is as painful as you think it will be). Getting up that early, I have leanred that the coldest part of the day is really just before the sun rises. (And I swear it is the quietest time of the day, as well.)

Day One began with a great start.

From there, some drama ensued but the event went on. The Command Queen and I decided that we needed a little more fun and a little less drama. Our weather gnome* (Bernard) is currently vacationing in Vegas so some of our friends gathered some of his friends to join us in Command. Meet Oscar and Franklin---

Here's to a season without weather and much incident! Until we meet again...

(*Sidenote: Kinkos is now officially called FedEx Office, but for me it just doesn't have the same ring so I call it Kinkos!.)

(*A weather gnome is a little something we discovered last year to help keep an eye on the approaching weather and keep it at bay.)