Friday’s Quick Takes

My on again, off again headache is turned back on at full volume and it woke me up earlier than I’d like to be up. And when it hurts too much to sleep, I might as well find other things to do. I mean I can’t just sit in a chair and “listen” to the pounding of my head.

Rocco the wonder dog was very happy to get up and have an early breakfast. He was also very happy to go back to our bedroom for his after breakfast nap. Some days, it seems like it would be better to be a dog. Well except for the having to go outside to go to the bathroom part.

I will admit that I’m something of an early bird. I do kind of like getting up before the sun rises to watch my little part of the world wake up. But I really don’t need the headache that came with this early awakening.

I do plan to go to the gym later. It is open now and I could go except the hours before 8 are usually filled with “work people” who are trying to get some activity in before they have to sit at a desk or in meetings all day. Too much stress in that crowd.

Talked with my “career coach” for the first time in a couple of weeks. Hard to believe that I’ve been off work for the entire summer. Our company only paid for five months of their service so our time together is coming to an end. So we were talking about what I’d like to get done before the program ends.

I do have the resume and I said maybe we should update my LinkedIn page since that it supposed to work in tandem with your resume. That way I can convince myself that I’ve still got something in place on the off chance that I get totally bored with the life of leisure and decide and I need to do something “productive”.

We also talked about how much I’ve truly enjoyed this summer. And that it would take a great deal to get me to go back into the work force – at least to a job like I had before. I was never a good fit for a large corporation and I’m shocked I lasted as long as I did. But since I’ve kind of let my sunny optimism come forward, there could still be some kind of perfect opportunity out there and I don’t want to shut any doors right now.

I wish I didn’t feel so defensive about my new lifestyle though. Had lunch with a couple of former colleagues and the topic came up on what we are doing with our lives. One lady who used to be on my team and was always the type with a to do list started in on all the things she was doing and how she’s so busy and on and on. Why has it been programmed into me that if you aren’t out doing a bunch of “stuff” then you are wasting your life?

I mean isn’t retirement supposed to be about enjoying life. Isn’t that the deal? You spend 30 years (or more) in the workforce grind saving for the day you don’t have to get up every day and go sit in an office or cube for many hours. If I now want to spend each day just meandering around, what’s wrong with that? I have the gym. I have my dancing. I have a dog who loves walks. I like to read – and now I have time for that. I enjoy doing this and now I have time for that. Heck, if I just want to sit on the deck and watch the birds for a bit, why shouldn’t I just do that?? The answer is that there is nothing wrong with it but that it isn’t perceived as “normal” to those who need lists and activities.

Well that last paragraph wasn’t quite a quick take. Got a bit on my soapbox there but that’s probably the headache talking.

Speaking of dancing, we have another new instructor at the studio. She’s actually DH’s old partner which means she’s danced competitively. But it seems like she’s only done a few types of dances because they are working her into the mix slowly. I danced a Waltz and a Fox Trot with her at the party last night and she said something about not knowing some of the Waltz steps I was doing. (But that I lead them very well – go me!) I think she’s danced mostly standard because she mentioned that during the Fox Trot so maybe the American styles are foreign to her.

Anyway, it was interesting dancing with her because I’m used to the rest of studio and she can move it! Was doing a passing twinkle and suddenly she’s way out in front of me because I was anticipating the amount of movement I would typically get from my usual dance partners at party. Even the other instructors don’t get that type of movement.

I kind of got the impression that Z was playing a little matchmaker because she dropped a hint that this new instructor does Quickstep and I’ve done a Quickstep or two in my time. And the new instructor brought that up while we were dancing. As I previously said, she also mentioned standard. Would it be fun to do some Quickstep again? Yes. Would it be interesting to dance with her? Oh yes. But then we have the reality of whether I’m ready to devote more time and money to the studio. That’s the balance I need to consider. But it is certainly something that makes you go hmmmm.

So I like scented candles. OK, I like things that smell good to me. What can I say? The only thing I avoid is food scented things. That’s the problem with fall because every candle is apple or cinnamon or something with pumpkin in the title. I still find things I like but then I wonder who sits around dreaming up the combinations and names. For example, I’m currently looking at this candle I’ve got called “Frozen Lake”. According to the description, it has notes of lavender leaves, cool eucalyptus (didn’t know eucalyptus could be judged on the warm/cool scale) and juniper berries. Not really sure that adds up to what a frozen lake smells like. I mean we certainly don’t have eucalyptus growing wild around here and if the lake is frozen, any lavender is going to be long dead. So who came up with “Frozen Lake”? These are the things I think about when I’m up with a headache.

Well I’ve probably rambled on long enough. The headache pills I took are doing what they can. See nothing ever really works. All they do is dull the pain enough so I can function a little better. Guess that’s better than nothing. Time to go see what else I can get done before the sun comes up.

Postscript time – thought of something I wanted to say but didn’t. Put this in the “things you don’t know you know” file. Last night, the group class was hustle. Part of the step was a man’s hammerlock which required putting my right arm behind my back. Good thing it wasn’t the left because I’m still dealing with some issues there. Well two ladies in a row remarked at how flexible I am. I think this was kind of an illusion because I don’t really think I have that much flexibility. When it comes to arm stuff in dances, the key is to keep your arms loose so the moves just happen naturally. This is something that was drilled into me and kind of just happens without me thinking about it. I suspect that some of the other guys were tensing up and making it appear that they lacked some flexibility. Just another example of the various layers of dance and things that eventually become habits so you don’t even really think about them anymore.