All I needed was an air pump for my bike tires.

I looked online, saw the Joe’s sports had a few, went to their store, and…

Learned my lesson. Next time, try REI, a cycling shop, or even amazon.com.

And the bike still sits in the garage waiting for the day when I will pump up the tires to see if there’s a problem with one of the tubes or if the tires simply went flat from having been in storage for a couple of months.

So, I don’t consider myself a “girly” girl.  I’m the oldest of 3 girls, I had Barbie dolls, and my mother was the kind of woman who didn’t go to the grocery store without having first applied her makeup and generally make sure she looked good before letting the public see her.

The poor woman always had a point of frustration with me.  Why?  Because I didn’t want to take time to do my hair – pulling it into a pony tail was good enough for me most days – and makeup?  Heh.  Only when she got really mad at me for being over 16 and still not caring.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I’ve never really done my nails, either.  Hey, when you play piano, and are taught that “pianists don’t scratch, they nub, so keep your nails short,” you just don’t think to do much more than trim and file.  I never ever understood the girls in high school when they chipped a nail.  Frankly, I didn’t even really know what that MEANT.

For Valentine’s Day this year, my husband told me he wanted me to get a manicure and a pedicure.  He loves it when, once in a blue moon, I actually take time to pretty up my nails.  My problem with doing my nails is the paint always chips off after a day, and, if I go red on the fingernails, I can’t seem to stay in the lines of the nails, so I end up looking like my hands have been through a grinder by the time I’m done.  AND, there’s always ONE nail that gets smudged, so I’m stuck for 30 minutes trying to perfect it.

I don’t think poor Rich realized what he was getting into, though.  See, it took me a month of research before I found a place that seemed to strike a good balance between price and service that was rated excellently.  Curses on the internet and all the people who post reviews of places.  It makes people like me take even longer to decide where to go for things like a manicure.

I finally went for a manicure last week.  Rich laughed when I got back from it because I went for a pale pink – i.e., natural color – on the polish.  Why?  Well, what if the polish chipped the next day again?  Another lady was getting her nails done there and was shocked to learn this was my very first manicure.  I should’ve noted my mom gave us girls manicures – I just wasn’t aware that’s what she was doing when she did our nails.

The polish lasted 6 days – with one extra top coat added by yours truly 3 days after getting the manicure done (I read somewhere that was a great way to help extend the duration of your manicure).  I think a manicure is supposed to last about 2 weeks?  For me, 6 days is practically a record, though.

As I lament my chipped nail (I think this is what girls mean whey they’ve “chipped a nail”? no, I never really learned what it meant), I’m looking forward to a pedicure.  I’m also feeling sorry for whomever will be working on my feet.  See, I’ve only ever done the NAILS on my feet – leaving the rest of my feet calloused and dry.  If the person doing the pedicure can manage to make my feet soft and smooth, I’ll be hooked. 

As Rich and I were in the check-out line at the grocery store, I did my usual, reading headlines of the magazines there. I had to laugh and cringe this week, though, because of the headlines I saw.

That’s not to say I don’t laugh and cringe every week, but these really stood out to me.

First – Jessica Simpson. I haven’t really followed Ms Simpson, but a few weeks ago, she was on the cover of a magazine, wearing some outfit with multiple belts, with a headline that ran something like: “Simpson tells reports to back off – she’s proud to be a normal weight.” I remember thinking, as I looked at the picture of her, “Normal weight? Really? I guess she looks more normal, except for all the belts she has on over that leopard print top. How sad she’d need to tell people she’s not fat – she still looks so skinny!”

Yesterday, there was another picture of Ms Simpson. This time, the headline was: “Jessica Proud to be Back in her Daisy Dukes.”

I thought she was telling people she was proud to have put on a little weight just a few weeks ago?

The next: Oprah. Oh, this one killed me. “Lose weight with Oprah!” and “Oprah’s New Diet to Drop 40 Pounds!”

What happened to the last diet she was on, with that trainer, Greene, I think it was? Does that not work any more? What’s so fancy about this “new” thing she’ll be doing?

And the world wonders why women have such image issues.

So, I haven’t done a work update for quite some time. Here’s the latest:

This job never gets boring. Honestly – there are extremely few dull moments in this program. There are some very long days, but I think every job has those. There are tough moments, but, again, I think every job has those, too. The thing is, things are constantly moving, there is constant room for improvement, so it just doesn’t get boring. And that’s my kind of work environment.

We did a work personality test for the team about a month ago. It’s a variation on Jung’s work – kind of takes things up a notch, if you will. Instead of the letters that Jung’s personality test uses, you have colors. The idea is that everyone has every color in them, but, at work, you might naturally lean towards one over another. The colors: red (fiery red; will make decisions on the fly, plow right through the project); blue (cool blue; needs information to make decisions, analytical); yellow (sunny yellow; always about the team, getting everyone involved); and green (all about the individual relationships, the mentor). As one might imagine (and probably hope – after all, we’re market researchers), there’s a very strong element of blue on our team. I, however, was the only person on the team to be predominantly red. As I read my in-depth review to Rich, he said, “You should tell your manager that they didn’t need to hire someone to tell them that about you – I could have easily come in and tell them that!” Among some of the more descriptive phrases: tends to be argumentative; needs to remember that there are other ways to accomplish a goal than just theirs; needs to stop and smell the roses.

There are phrases on these building blocks we got, too. Red’s? Be brief, be bright, be gone. We all agreed that was a little harsh!

This team is very sugar-powered. That’s part of the reason for so much baking. We have cupcakes about once a month – and will find just about any excuse to get them. We have a team lunch every other week – we just get together and chat. It’s not like we don’t do that anyway, since we work in an open workspace, but it’s nice to have a “formal” get-together time.

The people I work with around the world are amazing. The past six months, I’ve learned a LOT about working with a truly global team, including cultural issues that may affect how you work with people. It’s a fun ride.

So, there you have it – a little update on work life. I can’t believe I’ve only been here for six months – it really feels like it’s been a lot longer, though in this case, that’s a good thing.

For some reason, tonight, I decided to do a BUNCH of baking. We’ve been baking more recently – being on a team of girls who all love chocolate and sweets is lending to that trend. But tonight, what I thought was going to be sweet bread ended up just being…white bread. But, hey, it was in a fancy lookin’ braid. And it was still pretty good. Just…not what I expected, especially when I was already baking my nearly weekly two loaves of whole wheat bread.

I also did something more than just tacos or stir fry for dinner – pork chops with an apple-raspberry sauce on the side and veggies. I started subscribing to Taste of Home’s Healthy Cooking magazine, and I’m finding all sorts of awesome ideas and recipes…and I only have one issue so far!! It’s actually kinda fun to be in the kitchen now – and even grocery shopping is getting to be a bit more enjoyable. It’s not buying the same stuff every week and then staring at the freezer/fridge wondering what on earth to do that’s a little different.

For my cycling friends – I met a nother couple of cycling gals from church the other day! They were talking about rides they might be doing this year, starting this month in the Mt Vernon area. So – one more impetus to my getting back on the road! I’ve been picking up running again, too – did 4 miles total last week (2 miles a day – treadmill). It’s more like a jog, but it felt SO good to run then cycle. It’s making think of duathlons in the future, and it’s given me a new goal. I’m aiming to get up to 3 miles without dying, and within 30 minutes. That’s going to take me awhile, since I’m currently jogging 2 miles in about 24 minutes. I’ve never been fast. Even when my sisters and mom and I would go running 3 times a week, I still didn’t always get 3 miles in half an hour. Now and then, yes, but I had to be in a zone. This time, I’m aiming for consistency.

In that vein, I decided to see how well I could do cycling. I was surprised – I managed to do 5 miles in 20 minutes! Woohoo! Of course, that was indoors, on a spin bike, “flat roads,” but I was still pretty proud of myself. First, for doing it after a 2 mile run; second, for doing it twice during the week!

On a semi-related note…I’m back to tracking my eating and exercising. I’m very frustrated at the fact that, since Christmas time, none of my jeans have fit – every pair is extremely tight. I ended up buying new pairs of jeans that were a size larger. So, now they’re a little loose, but the size smaller won’t fit right. I got even more frustrated this last week when I put on a pair of jeans that were all right just a month ago, had washed them, and they were TIGHT! I mean, seriously people – I’m eating fairly healthy, and a couple of days of sugar (in the month) should really NOT put you over the top like that, especially when you’re burning an average of 800 calories a workout. But I’m trying really hard not to focus on that and just focus on being sure I’m actually eating enough, and eating enough of the right stuff. Though “frustrating” isn’t an adequate word to describe the incredible degree of annoyance I have with the pairs of jeans now waiting until I can fit back into them again (if that ever happens). Oh well – as my doctor back in the Tri-Cities told me, I really shouldn’t care as long as I’m actually in very good health and physical condition, right? Why care that I can’t fit those jeans if I can run 2 miles and do a spin class afterwards, or if I can make it through a Jillian Michaels workout without collapsing? Focus on the positive!