Random Bits of My Head

1. Tuesday there was an eastern gold finch sitting atop a spent purple cone flower pulling out seeds. So, far I've gotten two days of mental delight out of this. Don't ask me why. It was just remarkably satisfying.

2. Older athletes at the Olympics rock! Dara Torres is frickin' 41! And that German gymnast vaulter is 33! Me: 42 and I grunt when I get up from a chair. I remember as a kid that my dad used to do this when getting up and I was so irritated by it. Now, I completely understand.

3. Why do other drivers get so prickly when you tap your horn at them? I consider it a public service if they have been sitting cluelessly at a green light. They see it differently, or at least their fingers do.

4. I was very nervous giving a very, very brief presentation to half of the company's senior most executives yesterday and realized that I was completely out of breath after my first sentence. So out of breath in fact that had I breathed through my mouth at that moment I would have sucked the executive next to me into my lungs. I quickly made the choice to trade the deep asthmatic sounding mouth breath with a nose breath. Of course, I forgot I was a little congested, so the executives were treated to the sound of snot and boogers rattling around in my head. I'm on the fast track after that performance. *sigh*

5. That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger. At least that is what I have to tell myself in my Pilates reformer classes.

6. My housekeeping skills are particularly abhorrent this summer. I think Curt is about to beat me with a toilet brush. Better try to focus on some improvements in this area.

7. New toy(s) at discount prices: despite our attempts to balance our old washing machine, it still crawled across the floor every time it spun a load. The dryer was no better. So, after much research and shopping around, we bought an LG steam washer and dryer set. Lesson learned in this exercise? Everything is negotiable. I asked for a package price for the washer, dry and two pedestals and kept asking them to go lower until I got the whole deal for about $950 off including a 5 year service plan. Sweet! Oh, and they are marvelous.