Walking With Nora

* This scene from The Big Bang Theory. I laugh every single time. Bazinga!

* I’m going to see Dave Matthews Band in June! Tickets were cheaper than usual so I have real seats. This has pretty much made my Friday. I bought a second seat not knowing who in the world would want to go but I figure a friend will surely want to buy it off me and go. And if not, I’ll use it as a birthday present for one of the many May birthdays coming up.

* It’s sunny out today. You hear that, Old Man Winter? It’s sunny! Which means it’s a lovely day automatically even if it’s no more than 18 F outside.

* Katelin’s awesome Oscar Giveaway! Since I’m having/hosting an Oscar party this would be a perfect addition to the night.

* Everything else such as: leftovers for lunch♥ meeting a friend for brunch on Sunday morning ♥ I’m finally buying my “big girl” running shoes for the race ♥ I’ll be making cupcakes this weekend, completely from scratch ♥ I don’t have to be anywhere early tomorrow ♥ In one week I’ll be on my way to visit my brother and pretend I’m 21 again ♥ Celebrating my five-year anniversary with my company next week ♥ My laundry is done which means one less chore this weekend ♥ I’m done with my antibiotics ♥ I am totally at peace with the fact that I have numerous gray hairs ♥ mentally planning out a few more mini-trips I’d like to take this year ♥ looking forward to a weekend full of friends and fun and hopefully a little R&R for me. ♥

What are your Friday loves today?

Okay, well maybe the title of this post is misleading.

Truth is, I’m terrified of ghosts.

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For a long time, I didn’t think I’d ever have an experience that made me believe in the supernatural. While I have always believed in ghosts, apart from the stories my dad would tell me (he has some crazy stories and really I have no explanation for them other than it was some sort of electrostatic activity… which can be a ghost), I didn’t think I’d come close.

I’ve been with my present company for almost five years (more on that next week) and three years ago we moved from a boring, lifeless, run of the mill office park to an old, rehabbed building from the 1800s with lots of charm, character and ghosts.

When we first moved to this office space the folks on the floors above me joked around that I shouldn’t stay after dark. Or come in too early. Or go the Lower Lower Level where the tunnels are. Tunnels!? What tunnels!? “Oh, you know, the ones that were part of the Underground Railroad. And happen to run underneath the present day State Mental Hospital which is just down the road.”

So I’ve never been to the Lower Lower Level but it does in fact exist. The brave men in my office have been down there a few times. But I have been there very early in the morning and very late at night, well past dark, usually the very last person in the four-story building to leave.

A few things you should know about my office building: it was built in the late 1800s with the original intent to be a college, which it was for about three years before they want bankrupt. At that time, the State bought the property and turned it into (there is some disput here as to the timeframe) a poorhouse for women and children where they were forced to work and a mental hospital, possibly run by nuns, for predominantly women and children. Either way, there are state records that indicate that women and children were indeed housed in this building, that women and children died in this building and that those who were committed to this institution were committed for the silliest of reasons. (Things that we would now call menopause, night terrors, depression, etc.) The building is a historical landmark and is many of the local books and one national book about ghosts and ghost stories.  

One day about two years ago, I got there earlier than usual, before anyone else was in the building. As I opened the door to my office I heard a lot of giggling coming from the floor above me. The office above us is a State office for the visually impaired so I thought perhaps I missed seeing a car or a bus with children on it and let it go. Later that day, around 7 pm at night (almost 12 hours later), I was locking up the office and heard the giggling again, but this time louder. In addition to the giggling, I heard running back and forth. Back and forth. Don’t ask me why, but I decided I should check to make sure there was no one upstairs as I didn’t want to lock them in the entire building, especially children. I walked up a flight of stairs, opened the door to the 3rd floor (hearing the giggling all the while) and as soon as I opened the door, it stopped mid laugh. Not a person in sight. The entire floor was dark. Office doors closed. I closed the door and rushed back downstairs. The laughter started again. I fleed the building.

Turns out that one of my co-workers had the exact same experience the day before me.

Others in the building have seen a young girl, in a white nightgown roaming the south side of the building before. (If I saw that, I’m pretty sure I’d pee my pants, ladylike or not.)

The UPS driver says boxes of paper clips and clipboards have flown straight off the shelf at him when he’s dropping off packages.

I’ve seen a few other “people” in the windows of our office suite at odd hours.

Turns out, I am afraid of ghosts, more afraid than I thought I would be. It’s enough that I literally run to the back of the office to turn the lights on if I’m the first one there and rush out as soon as it starts to get dark out. And no matter what, I don’t look back at the office windows.

What about you, do you believe in ghosts and the supernatural? Any encounters?

The Olympics. It’s probably the first year I’ve really watched the Olympics, followed personal stories and medal counts and I have to say, I love it. (I do not love, however, commentators such as Bob Costas and Scott Hamilton… I don’t think they know the Golden Rule.) As a result of the Olympics, I’ve found my future husband. Tiny Detail: He has no idea I exist.

Cleaning Up & Cleaning Out. While Spring is probably another month (or two!?) away from my part of the world, it’s never too early for me to start cleaning out the clutter that I’ve amassed over the last few months. Along with that I tend to get really into cleaning (deep cleaning), leaving me with a sparkly, dust-free residence. Rather lovely if you ask me.

Glee Station on Pandora. I have no idea how or why it took me this long to find it but it has significantly improved my workdays. Whether it be a song from Little Mermaid or Glee, Michael Buble or Jason Mraz, I can’t get too stressed when these happy songs are streaming through the speakers.

Ingrid Michaelson. Her songs pop up on the Glee Station on Pandora and the combination of the music, her voice and lyrics stick with me. Specifically love this song:

Boston Legal. I know, I’m several years late on this one, but I happened to catch a few episodes on TVLand of all channels and as a result Season One has been added to the Netflix Queue. Can’t wait to start from the beginning! Side Note: James Spader is oddly… intriguing. And maybe a little cute in some sort of weird way.

What’s caught your eye in the past month? Anything I must check out?

(all of my February Obsessions are simply things I’ve fallen in love with over the last month. I was not approached by an person, company or entity to write about these things.)

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It’s not secret that Mondays are a bit, um, dreadful for a lot of America.
We have to break oursevles away from the cocoon of our home, our family, our loved ones, our pets, or projects and march out into a world where most likely the co-workers and customers have little regard for our stress levels, workloads, and “i’d rather be doing,” list.

I definitely fall prey to the Monday Blues or “Case of the Mondays,” but in the last few weeks I’ve learned to pump myself up. You know, like listening to my favorite song(s) on my way to work, singing at the top of my lungs. Planning a few “treats” for myself during the week like happy hour with friends, a different workout, or even a classic dinner and movie night chez moi.

I’ve also started bringing a book with me to read during my lunch hour, which I do so away from my desk. (I’m terrible about working through lunch or eating it at my desk, while working.) And making sure I have  a few extra (healthy) snacks on hand in case I get the afternoon munchies.

The little things really do make a difference. I find that as a result, Monday isn’t so horrid, I have a week’s worth of fun to look forward to, yumalicious food to keep my stomach happy and waist trim, and the stress, while present, doesn’t dominate my workday and bring me down. Besides, work is a means to an end, not one’s life.

Do you have any beat-the-Monday-blues techniques? Or do you love your job so much that you go leaping and bounding to the office each day?

Sometimes you have to set yourself free.

{via Weheartit}

Free from the expectations of others, yourself.

Free from the daily schedule imposed by work, the gym, your day planner.

Free from the emails, google reader, facebook notifications that flow in day in and day out.

Free from the tunnel vision that so many of us fall prey to.

Free from the writer’s block that’s plagued you for two weeks.

Sometimes you choose to set yourself free, ignoring responsibility and running with reckless abandon. Staying up late instead of being a worker bee who goes to bed at 10 and gets up at 6. Choosing to go to the gym at 8pm even though you know you’ll be energized until midnight. Watching a movie guilt-free instead of thinking about the 100 things you should be doing. Getting lost in a book. Absorbing other cultures. Coming up with new challenges, hopes and dreams (thanks to watching the Olympics).

{Via Weheartit}

Other times, life happens and does it for you, telling you to slow the heck down, worry less, enjoy more. Maybe it throws a snow day at you, or you come down with the latest virus circulating the town.

Either way, it feels good. Refreshing. Reminding you that you have ownership of your life, your actions, your reactions.

If you don’t hear from me much this week, it’s because I’m busy living life … off the computer.*

{Via Flickr}

* I’m also recovering from the stupid virus that’s making it’s way around StL and that’s not fun to write about. And of course, when I say I’m going to live my life off the computer, I get 100 ideas for posts.

In honor of Valentine’s Day and the fact that I really do love my life, today’s love list includes:

Awesome surprises from Blog Valentine’s in the mail. • The fact that we may actually get snow this weekend, which means I’d be stuck at home and forced to read the awesome book I’m reading. • Blackberry Messenger, the chats I have on there are often a highlight to my day. • The way Jack sprawls out on my bed in the morning to wake me up. • My shoe collection.  • Blogging Book Swaps. • I don’t have to set any alarms this weekend.  • I’m not a duo this year but I still have fun Valentine’s Day plans. • I’m losing weight and feeling great. • Several weekend trips are in the works for between now and the end of the year to see family, bloggettes, and friends. • Working my butt off on a project at work, getting it done and it actually worked which is a bonus. • Whole Foods. I’m kind of becoming obsessed. • I plan on reliving some of my college moments next weekend I visit my brother. • My seemingly endless scarf collection which has seen much action this bitterly cold winter. •  Figuring out the cause that was making 10 kinds of crazy, getting rid of it and being normal again • Having insanely vivid dreams that leave me feeling hopeful and happy • Spring is right around the corner which means I can wear flip-flops.  • It’s Friday, the Olympics are on, and I don’t have anything I *must* do this weekend.   • I’ve made headway on my savings plan, my life plan, and have simultaneously decided to shelve the idea of “planning,” everything for a bit.  • Chocolate, as always. • I get to “see” Benicio Del Toro this weekend and indulge in a Chipotle burrito on Sunday.

What’s making you happy/loving life?

Previous for installments can be found here , here ,  here and here.

* I’ve never seen Titanic. Or The Terminator. I don’t know that I ever will.

* My first “real” kiss happened when I was 15.

* I haven’t ever “tee-peed,” someone’s house, nor was it done to my house.

* The day of my high school graduation, my best friend and I decided we should try smoking cigarettes. We bought a pack, a lighter, and sat outside the graduation party at my HSB (high school boyfriend) house. We eached smoked two cigarettes and coughed our way through it.  

* I’ve only smoked twice since then, both times in Vegas.

* Also while in Vegas my friends convinced me to get a lap dance (from a guy). I took a shot, chugged a beer and laughed the entire time.

* I can’t have more than two glasses of wine without feeling hungover the next day. Somedays I miss “Party Nora.”

* Thanks to the few episdoes of the “West Wing,” that I’ve seen, all throughout high school and my early college days I wanted to be the Press Secretary to the President.

* These days I’m not really sure what I want to be when I grow up; I’m largely okay with that.

* Dave Matthews Band is coming to StL in June. I will be going and it will be my 10th time seeing him in concert. Excessive? Maybe, but the way his music makes me feel is worth the price of a ticket.

* I’m starting to like country music which is a huge deal since I used to have a physical reaction when I’d hear it on the radio.

* I don’t dread Valentine’s Day anymore, boyfriend or not.

What do you want to confess today?

We went from twirling in our front yards while the sprinkler was on at age eight to celebrating her first baby.

{via weheartit}

We were next door neighbors for two years and then suddenly miles apart.

As much as I can’t believe it, Facebook is responsible for our reconnection.

A reunited trip, a bachelorette party, a wedding, a trip to Vegas, a visit to StL and finally, a baby shower.

We’ve been friends for 18 years.

She’s one of the few people I can talk to without filtering, thinking, worrying.

I fell in love with palm trees all over again.

I learned that I really can’t put myself before others, even if that’s what a vacation is for.

I felt her baby kick.

We stayed up until 2am talking about anything and everything each night I was there.

I helped throw a kick-ass baby shower.

I left without a single picture of the two of us, much to Darling’s chagrin (and mine, too).

I wondered if I really could up and leave my life as I know it.

We cried when it was time for me to leave.

I realized that some best friends really are forever.

My heart and soul finally thawed out over this trip thanks to the Florida sun and warmth, being around people who truly get me and renewing my sense of self.

Happy Monday dear friends! I’m taking another day off from the blog writing world so today’s post is from the lovely, loyal Mandy from Knowing the Difference. If you don’t read, her you should. Her imagery and poetic posts will knock the breath out of our lungs, make you re-evaluate your life and if nothing else add meeting Mandy to your Life List. When she asked if she could write an “Ode,” to me, I nearly fell of my chair. And then when I read this? I wanted to re-route my plane from Florida to Mandy’s piece of the world.

If you read my blog, Knowing the Difference, you probably know that my friendships are a huge part of my life. Most of my friendships are the type of friendships that I can’t recall the beginning of; there is no definite starting point. I don’t remember whether one passed me a message in third grade math class, or I sat next to her in a college lecture hall, or who sent that first email kicking off a great conversation. These friendships just somehow happened and morphed into such a profound bond that I quite honestly can’t recall my life without certain people in it.

My friendship with Nora is one of the very few that I can pin point the absolute beginning. It was one of those moments in life that stands out; one that I knew my life was going to change forever, for the better, because of knowing this person. The first time I was introduced to the friendly spirit behind this blog, wasn’t actually through her blog but instead by way of a Fedex box with some fun items and a friendly note. I had no knowledge of who she was, but just reading her note made me feel as if she was a long lost friend. She just has that way about her, making people feel completely at ease and comfortable, even if you are just meeting her for the first time.

Over the past year, Nora has become one of my most trusted, dearest friends proving that you don’t have to know someone face to face to establish the incredible bond of friendship. We’ve shared numerous emails, phone calls, and heart to hearts. I often forget that Nora and I don’t have a long history behind us. She listens without judgment, puts others happiness before her own, and goes out of her way to make sure her friends are ok. I know that no matter where life takes us or if our blogs someday go to the wayside that she and I are lifetime friends.

Nora has changed my life just by being my friend. I’m guessing she’s done the same for most of you who stop by and read this blog day after day. Our friendship reminds me of one of my favorite songs from the musical Wicked:

I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return…
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend…
Because I knew you I have been changed for good.
~ “For Good”

Who has changed your life simply by being your friend? How have your friends changed you “for good?”

Today’s blog post is brought to you by Lovely Anomaly. Instantly bonding over our proximity to one another (only two hours up the highway), our love for hugs and hot chocolate and many other things, I can’t wait to meet her. (Ahem, Lovely, you hear that?) Enjoy today’s post which is a little bit educational, a little bit throwback and a lot of funny. Anything that mentions Doug Funnie is A-OK in my book and should be in yours too!

“You are a nerd.”

Oh man.  That was probably the WORST way to start a guest post.  I’m so sorry.  Geeze.  Nora counted on me to keep you guys entertained while she’s enjoying sunshiny bliss and I’m over here calling all her readers nerds.  Let’s try this again.

I am such a nerd.

(Better already, isn’t it?)

But, no, really.  I am.  Last semester I took a course covering parasitic plant nematodes. . .for fun.  And I know Doug Funnie bagged a neematoad when he first moved to Bluffington, but that’s not quite what I’m talking about.

 
If you ever start to think that your life is dull, at least you aren’t wandering through the soil looking for plant roots.  Because that’s exactly what these little worm-like creatures do.  They spend their entire lives squiggling and squirming through the soil searchin’ for roots to slurp on.  ENTHRALLING, am I right? 

[crickets chirp]

(I am pretty sure this is the worst guest post ever.)

Anyway.

The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend and it really only means one fabulous thing:  lots and lots of food.  More importantly, lots and lots of potato chips.  Because, let’s face it, there are few things better than a nice, salty potato chip.  But if you’re at a party, EVERYONE STEALS THEM.  Gah.  They disappear before you’ve even had a handful.  And it sucks!  Don’t tell me I’m alone in this.

I swear these two topics correlate…

Last semester we learned about the potato cyst nematode.  I mean, the name alone should tell you that it is AWESOME.  Actually, no.  It’s a huge jerk, just ask Idaho.  The female nematode spends its life cycle in the potato tuber and then turns into this teeny little cyst to just, you know, hang out during the winter and then lay all her baby nematode eggs in the spring. I told you it was exciting.

So these nematode cysts really don’t make potatoes look all that tasty.  You wouldn’t buy one of these infected potatoes at the store.  So what does the agriculture industry do?

Turn it into POTATO CHIPS, duh. 

The icky-on-the-outside potatoes are turned into DELICIOUS potato chips, and during the process the potato cyst nematodes are knocked off the potato, leaving little bitty holes in our potato chips.

When you’re at the Super Bowl party this weekend and your friends are hogging the Lay’s or the Ruffles, just tell them they’re eating nematode-infected potatoes.  I’m sure they’ll hand over the bag in no time.

Or they’ll just call you a nerd.

Which is okay, because you’ve already heard it from me, so it won’t even phase you.

You’re welcome.