Swimming and Swimsuits

My heel has been bugging me the last few days. Often painful to even walk on. So instead of running/walking this morning, I hit the pool.

I definitely need to swim more often. Just one lap and I was gasping for breath. But to do that I need more than one swimsuit.

Speaking of swimsuits. I've been depressed/upset/annoyed since January when I was forced to buy a "women's" sized, or fat, suit. This even thought it actually does make me look at good 10 pounds lighter than I am.

If only they could put the "slim" fit into a slightly less matronly and more attractive design.

Why do designers assume that when you pass a certain size you stop caring about style? Just wondering.

Nimitz' Lady

GRANTED!

Just found out my vacation request for August has been granted. That's a huge load off my chest. Now I don't have to worry about jeopardizing my job, a job I don't want by the way, in order to go visit my dad.

Stay tuned... there'll be a much longer, involved post about swimsuits and swimming coming up later today.

Nimitz' Lady

Cheap Tix

On an up note for the day I found really cheap tickets (for my part of the country) to L.A. I've been looking for awhile because we plan to go visit my Dad sometime this summer.

Between the tickets and the car rental I'm basically spending what I'd set aside for just the tickets. Yeah me!

So, first week of August I'll be in Sunny Cali-forn-i-a.

This will be JBP's first trip to the ocean, to Disneyland, to that strange, enchanting place we call Los Angeles.

The down side, I've already paid for the tickets but won't know until next week if the Powers That Be will give me the time off.

See, the boss is out of town and will only allow one person of each job title to take time off on any given day. I checked the schedule and no one is listed as off that week. So, I should be ok. But I'll fret about it until he gets back and approves the request.

Nimitz' Lady

Wasted

Not much time, must get to work. But wanted to let all know my first interview was a big ol' waste of time.

First thing I walk in the receptionist refers to me as "Sweetie". Gets on my nerves a bit given the location/situation. But I'm willing to let it go.

Then the interviewer does the same thing. Then he tells me they're looking for a woman to sell their new Liz Claiborne line.

I'm sitting there thinking, a man can't sell make-up? 'Cause I can personally think of about five guys I know of, off the top of my head, who could do a hell of a job better than I can.

Plus, they advertised for PR/Charity work. It was a sales job. Ok, whatever.

The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes. I gave up my work-out for that? What a waste of time.

On the otherhand, I do have another interview next week with a Photography company.
With my luck they'll want to hire me. At minimum wage! And I still haven't heard from the Humane Society, which is the job I'm really interested in.

Nimitz' Lady

Interviewing

The good news is I'm starting to get companies calling me for interviews. I've got two set up so far and may have a third soon.

Unfortunately, so far they're mostly jobs I'm not sure I'm interested in. An advertising agency... when I'm most definitely NOT a sales person. A photography company that probably won't offer me enough to pay the bills.

The only one I'm interested in is the new position of Development Coordinator for the local Humane Society. I'd actually adore working for them.

A friend of mine who went to school with the lady in charge of the search spoke with her and tells me they'll be calling for an interview. But it's now been more than 24 hours with no call.

Plus, I think I may have screwed the pooch when I called her assitant to make sure my cover letter/resume had arrived. I only got her voice mail and left a message but suddenly blanked on the job title and simply couldn't come up with it.

I'm about ready to start biting my nails. (No loss there!) I just keep reminding myself God will lead me to the job he wants me to have. I just hope it's soon.

Nimitz' Lady

Weighing In

Ok, Ok, I promised weekly weigh-ins and haven't exactly been keeping my word. I have a good reason. I like to always use the same scale to weigh due to differences in the way each scale weighs. Say that five times fast! I dare ya!

Well, the scale I'd been using busted. I waited four weeks or so and the Y never got it fixed. Then came the great schedule change. Needless to say I wasn't really thinking about weighing in at that point.

Now that I'm getting back to a normal schedule, both work and workout, I'm going back to weekly weigh ins.

That being said here're the latest details:

Today: 202 lbs
Last week: 205.5 lbs
Difference: -3.5 lbs
Total lost: -3.5 lbs
Goal: 160 +/-5
Left to goal: 42

And now that I'm depressed from seeing all those numbers in black and white.. I'll go eat some bunt cake with cream cheese icing a co-worker brought in.

Have a great weekend and don't eat too much.

Nimitz' Lady

Tension

My life has been so hectic and tense lately that even things I used to enjoy are too much for me to handle.

Case in point: Basketball.

I've been noticing more and more this season, that I simply can't handle close games. I get too tense.

A couple weeks ago, one of the
Cyclones' games was televised on FSN Sabbath afternoon. I didn't want to watch because it was Sabbath and I was tired. This waas in the middle of my stint on the overnight shift.

Anyway, I tried to go to sleep. But the game quickly became tight and I got so wound up that I simply couldn't sleep. I ended up sitting in the living room trying to read and block out the game (which we eventually lost).

I noticed the same thing again last night as I listened to the Cyclones WNIT game on the internet. They barely got it into overtime, where they eventually won it.

Some of this is definitely due to my internal tension. I think some may also be because I know the members of the team better than I ever have and my family is so close to Brittany (Wilkins, #51) by now.

At this point I just want the basketball season over with.. almost as much as I want the ladies to win the WNIT championship. I guess I'll just have to soldier through.

Nimitz' Lady

Basketball Shoes

Why is it so hard to find women's basketball shoes?

I was out last night with Der Deutscher and JBP checking out local sports stores. Der Deutscher is trying to replace a Swiss Army Knife he lost and he's pretty particular about his pocketknives.

Since my current sneakers turned one year old last week I decided to check out the shoe collection. I currently have Nike Shox. While they're a great running shoe, they're not so great for cross training. Especially if you've got weak ankles like I do. Everytime I try to make a quick lateral move I twist my ankle in these shoes.

So I figured a good basketball shoe would be just about perfect.

When what to my surprise do I find? The first store had only one! I repeat, one! women's basketball shoe. Men and Youth had an entire row of them. But only one woman's shoe!

The second store didn't even have that many!

What? Do they think women and girl's don't play basketball? There are a million Big 12 fans who could tell manufacturers and stores otherwise!

I've decided we need a Title IX for basketball shoes as well as basketball! That's the only way we'll get the shoes we want, deserve and would PAY for, gol-dangit!

A Mad and Shoeless Nimitz' Lady

No Mac & Cheese

This weekend, Der Deutscher and I were idly discussing the possibility of him getting a job in Germany and all of us moving overseas.

I'm all for the idea.

A) We're talking living in another country here for an extended period of time! And a chance to get my Germany skills up to par with my Spanish abilities.

B) It would force Der Deutscher to accept me as a SAHM, at least for a little while. The government wouldn't allow me to work for a few months, then I'd have to finish getting my language skills to the point where I could earn enough to make my working outside the home financially viable.

C) It would mean JBP would be fluent in at least two languages by the end of elementary school. Of course, then we'd face the problem that all the good High Schools, or Gymnasiums, hold classes minimum every other Sabbath. But that's a few years down the road.

Anyway, JBP overheard our discussion and wild postulations and piped in, "I don't wanna move to Germany!"

We stare at him in some consternation, as he's been begging to go back to visit almost since we returned last November. "Why not?"

"They don't have macaroni and cheese there!" he wailed.

Everyone has their priorities.

Nimitz' Lady

Traducir o no

I've just spent a very depressing hour and a half combing the internet for University translator/interpreter certification and/or masters degree programs.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, anywhere near me. The closest is a six hour drive away. All the (reputable) programs are at least a year, usually two years, of full time study.

I can't move away because I have a family and other people's jobs are involved. Nor can I in good concious just take off to attend school for one to two years, leaving everyone else behind.

Even the plain certification programs take at least a year!

So, back to the job hunt I guess. *sigh*

A very depressed Nimitz' Lady

No Passion

"Passion Lives Here!" That was the theme of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. It also used to be the theme for my work life. Not anymore. The passion is gone.

It used to be I loved everything about the news business. Even when I hated it, I loved it. Weird as that may be.

And on Breaking News Days. Wow! I would get so high, that's the only way to explain the feeling, on adrenaline I could dance for a week without sleep. Not so much anymore.

I've been noticing a slow trickle of passion leaking away over the last couple of years. The big serial killer trial last summer really drained me when historically it would've energized me.

Yesterday was the final clencher. Cut-ins throughout the afternoon covering a grass fire that consumed 10,700 acres in a single county. Plus what we refer to as Breaking News Newscasts. Which means changes throughout the shows and constant updates.

Traditionally, an event like that would've had me floating. Exultant. Exhilarated. It left me cold.

All I could think about all day was getting home to JBP, my son. My passion now is my son and the other children I know I will someday have. Who they are and how they'll be related to me I don't know. But they're who I care about now. Not the news.

Don't get me wrong. I cared about the folks in the path of the grass fires. My best friend from elementary school had to evacuate and later lost her home to the fires. I'd have done just about anything to have been able to go out there and help her and the firefighters.

But sitting in the newsroom, even providing the public service we were providing, did nothing for my soul, which at this point desperately needs some feeding.

So, starting Monday the job search is back on, full force. Here's just praying I can find something that will feed my soul and let me have time with my boy.

--Nimitz' Lady

On a sidenote: I'd much rather just become a SAHM but Der Deutscher doesn't think we can afford it. It comes from being raised in completely opposite economic situations. Based on the way I grew up, he makes more than enough to support all of us, easily. Not so the way he was raised. So, it's off to work I go.

Aaaaagggghhh!!!

This is a day I hope not to repeat.

Got my butt gnawed on by my boss in the am.

Grass fires are taking over my newscast and my life.

Friends had to evacuate because of them and may lose their dogs because the firefighters wouldn't let them go back for a second load!

And I missed lunch but ate my way through two Panera's bagels.

That's plenty for one day. Hopefully tomorrow's better.

Nimitz' Lady

Update

Sorry so long with no posts. So, here's a quick rundown of what I've been up to lately.

*Moved to day shift. Catching up on sleep. Not as much free time to blog while at work and too tired by the tiem I get home. Sorry folks. Hopefully I'll wake up soon.

*Made a last minute trip back to Ames for Brittany Wilkins Senior Night. It was great. We (ISU) beat Colorado. BTW, we just beat Texas in the first round of the conference tournament this afternoon.

*Grieving for fact I'm not at the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Dallas. It's too expensive and not as much fun as when the tourney's in Kansas City.

*While in Ames took JBP swimming at the hotel. He can now swim underwater in 5 foot deep water. He doesn't do so well swimming along the top of the water, but is a regular little fish underneath.

*JBP is not dealing well with the latest change in my schedule. I think it's just been too many changes too quickly for him. He's normally a very adaptive young man. But this time around he's being very whiny and clingy. It's tough for my poor mommy psyche to deal with. I wish I could just stay home!

*Getting ready to resume the job hunt next week. Hopefully I'll be awake again by then.

*Have applied to the local Foreign Language Magnet school. Now must wait until April to see if JBP is accepted.

*JBP wore his hanbok to church the very first weekend and I had to pry it off him. He wanted to wear it to Ames last weekend but I wouldn't let him. He can't wait to wear it again to church this coming Sabbath.

*Still trying to find affordable tickets to go visit my dad in L.A. I had one good deal in July, but then found out my boss wasn't granting vacation that week because of a major sports event in town. Now, I'm running into a conflict between the number of vacation days Der Deutscher has available and the number of days he'd need to take off in order to leave/return on a Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur. You know, the cheap flying days?

So, that's me. What's up with everyone else?

Nimitz' Lady