Happiness = Eternal Stench of Running Clothes

Posted by random olio

Happy Friday! What do you do each day to get exercise? Do you sit in cubicle hell all day, or do you have the ability to move around, stretch, and have an active day?

I spent most of my life NOT running. Now I cannot seem to get enough of it. I want to go everyday and usually I do not want to stop when I need to due to other obligations, or because I am wiped out. I crave it. I often think about what would happen if I had been enamored with running earlier in life. Why did it take me so many years? Did I think I would not be good enough? Did I think it would be too exhausting? I cannot remember, all I know now is that I cannot imagine my life without running in it.

It is not that I did not have encouragement. A very close friend from college ran daily, often winning races and hiding the trophies in the back of her closet. She was a badass (and still is) but never wanted to talk about her race wins. She would often come back to our room for a quick shower before dinner completely caked in mud and gloriously happy. What did she already understand that took me years to wrap my arms around?

The key for me is the euphoria I feel when I finish a run. I feel pushed and stretched. I feel like I am being responsible for my health and taking care of myself. I feel like I have had an hour to myself. I feel content. While my husband would prefer to not smell the stench of my running clothes hanging in the bathroom, he obliges because he knows how happy it makes me. The stench = hard work, dedication, accomplishment = happiness.

Do you have a daily exercise routine that makes your day balanced?

Do You Listen 100%?

Posted by random olio

A few months ago I came across “You Learn by Living” by Eleanor Roosevelt. I wish I had read it many years ago. She inspired me more than any other first lady. One idea (of the many I wrote down) was about listening. I feel that over the past few years we as a society have become horrible listeners. There are too many other things happening around us. Our phone is ringing, we are getting a text message, sending an email, or in the middle of a level of Angry Birds. We multi-task. I myself am just as much to blame. I am a hard-core multi-tasker. I of course feel like I do an amazing job at it, but do I really? I feel like I do, but I often wonder if I am just trying to make myself feel better about all that I am trying to do at once. This is what she says about listening:

“If such a search is to be successful, however, you will need two qualities which you can develop by practice. One is the ability to be a good listener. The other is the imaginative ability to put yourself in the other person’s place; to try to discover what he is thinking and feeling; to understand as far as you can the background from which he came, the soil out of which his roots have grown, the customs and beliefs and ideas which have shaped his thinking.” P. 136

Three short sentences that are jam-packed with ideas. Do you have an “imaginative ability to be a good listener?” To me that means going to extremes to make sure that the person you are engaged with knows you are listening, and that…you ACTUALLY are. What if you tried that for one week? What if you made sure that every conversation and interaction you had, you were focused 100%? I would like to try that over the next week and see if I can tell the difference in how I connect with others. Do I feel I understand them more, retained more information, and better executed on my part of the conversation? Did I tell someone I would follow through on something?

I also love where she says: “the imaginative ability to put yourself in the other person’s place; to discover what he is thinking and feeling” – it is something I try to do. See, I love learning about people. You could say people fascinate me. I always have the thought in my mind: “put yourself in their shoes.” I think it helps to relate to others who might be different from you, that might even have an opposite upbringing and life experience. I think it gives a person empathy when interacting with others.

So, are you with me? Do you want to try to listen 100% over the next week?

Lip Dubbed Proposal – Must See Video!

Posted by random olio

Hope you had a relaxing holiday weekend! We had a good weekend of great food, people, and conversation. I decided to take yesterday off from blogging, my mind just needed a bit of a break!

I wanted to share an inspiring video with you that I think has been all over the Internet this past weekend. It is of a Portland couple and their Lip Dubbed Wedding Proposal. It is one of the most clever proposals I have ever seen. This is the background story connected to the video.

Hope you enjoyed it! It is another reason I love Portlanders. They are definitely a clever and creative bunch. It makes me think of all the ideas that could be out there that have not been discovered or shared.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Children’s Book Week

Posted by random olio

Happy Monday! I had a good full weekend, with sunshine and warmth. It is supposed to be 79 degrees in Portland today. I think it will be the warmest day we have had since last summer! The forecast this week shows sun everyday this week, an exciting thing to look forward to when you live in rainy Portland!

So, this week is Children’s Book Week. Yes, I am addicted to reading and books. Books have changed my life. I was thinking back to the books I read as a child. I can remember sitting on the couch and reading aloud to my dad. Often our dog, Ginger, would lay on the couch with us.

tami, dad, and ginger reading together

(Apologies for the faded photo, it is what my physical copy looks like too).

The books I can remember reading aloud were Amelia Bedelia, most Beverly Cleary books, Corduroy, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Clifford, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George, and many more. Later I would enjoy Encyclopedia Brown, The Babysitter’s Club, and Nancy Drew, among others.

Later in high school and college when I would babysit and work in a day care center, my favorite books to read to children were: Guess How Much I Love You, Love you Forever, You’re Just What I Need, The Paper Bag Princess, and one of my childhood favorites, The Poky Little Puppy.

What were your favorite childhood books?

In honor of children’s book week, give or send a child you know your favorite children’s book.

Have a great week!

Customer Service – UGH!

Posted by random olio

I have a rant. So our contract is almost up with our Internet/TV/Phone provider. We called today to find out if our rates would increase. They are. By $50. Gulp. Seriously. It does not make sense. We have been a customer for over 3 years and they (ahem – Frontier FIOS) are doing nothing to keep us as a customer. It makes no sense to me. We are researching other companies, and we could move to Comcast, Century Link, or some sort of arrangement with satellite (Dish or Direct TV). So with so many competitors, why would Frontier do nothing to keep us as loyal customers? Their response was that their system no longer allows discounts and the only way to get a deal is to sign a new contract for new service. Again, this makes no sense to me. Why should I have to sign a new contract to continue paying what I am currently paying?

I have had an iPhone for years. My rates have never changed. I was grandfathered in with the unlimited data plan, and yes AT&T I will not leave you, because my unlimited data plan I believe is golden. I never think about how much I am on my phone, using my apps, the Internet, doing email. AT&T never changes my rates from year to year, and I appreciate it. Thank you, AT&T.

So, Frontier, we are looking to change companies. Wouldn’t you? Why should we stick with a company that has always given us bad customer service, messed up our billing for over 9 months, and has done nothing to keep us as a customer? Does anyone have any experience with Century Link or satellite? We have had Comcast before and might switch to them. We will most likely cancel our phone plan and just stick to Internet/TV. I would like to find a TV/Internet provider that actually cares about their customers. Is that even possible? (Frontier could really learn something from Zappos). To find a TV/Internet provider that cares about their customers? I would love to be happily surprised.

Perplexed in Portland.