Day 30: All You Need is Positivity

Today was one of those days that started off okay, got pretty bad and then reminded you that it will lead to worse days later on. A truly horrendous, emotionally-draining day. A day in which I have no desire whatsoever to do a new thing.

I am trying to take the high road emotionally by writing a blog of all the things I am thankful for. Research shows that smiling alone will induce happiness and counting your blessings forcibly reminds you of the things not to take for granted.

Right now, however, I'm falling into an all-too-familiar trap where I don't necessarily want to let go of the situation; if I stop thinking about it, I may miss a brilliant thought that will rectify the whole thing! Right? No, I know it's not true. I'm only a tremendously flawed human.

Here goes on the blessings:

1. I am thankful for my health and mobility
2. I am thankful that I am employed and that my boss cares I exist
3. I am thankful that I have an unconditionally loving and supportive family
4. I am thankful that I have the means to pay for my living accommodations and transportation
5. I am thankful for yoga, that calms my mind and supports my physical well-being
6. I am thankful for my boyfriend who has uncommon patience for me
7. I am thankful that I live in a big city that keeps me stimulated
8. I am thankful for my education and the opportunities it presents
9. I am thankful for friends who stick by me (and those who read my blog!)
10. I am thankful for chocolate and travel, which are so pleasurable as to remind me I'm alive when I indulge :)

Phew. Feeling a little better already.

Day 29: A Warm Welcome in Chile

Today, I, along with millions of viewers around the world, watched as the 33 Chilean miners rose from the mine shaft after 69 days underground--the longest stretch anyone has ever gone and survived.

It has been talked about as my generation's moon landing, because of its global scope of interest, symbolic gesture of hope and indication of human innovation and power. And thanks to live streaming video, people can watch this event unfold and experience the excitement and joy from the TVs, computers and phones.

This was the view from my watchtower:

To me, "the rescue" as it is now known, shows an unfaltering will to live, deep compassion by the rescuers as well as immense strides in mining technology, because it is no secret to anyone that miners frequently lose their lives in mining crises. While I'm sure that this probably won't make history books, I think it is a hugely positive event that will make some people reconsider their problems, if only for a day, and appreciate the air up above.

Day 28: The 5-hour energy mini-blog

Readers, I have been really tired recently and I just can't seem to shake it. About a month ago I started doing yoga about 3-4 times per week, and although I get eight hours of sleep a night, I still wake up tired. So today, I am trying 5-hour energy.

Honestly, I'm a little scared and I don't really know how this is going to go for me. I can't drink caffeine after about 4 p.m. or else I'll stay awake all night. Also, drinking more than one cup of coffee in the morning leaves me passed out in a cold sweat by 2:00. I once had two doughnuts and a medium iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts and crashed so hard I had to curl up like a junkie in the gutter. Not cute.

However, my beloved 5-hour energy swears that I won't crash later and that it only has the caffeine of one cup of coffee, and a mere 4 grams of sugar. Theoretically, these traits will be "better for me." Oh, and it's "all natural".

I'll report to you ever hour about what I'm feeling and let you know how it goes!

9:00 AM-- The bottle says berry flavor, but the first sip tastes starkly like Tang if you just ate the powder. Finishes clean though.

I looked at their website and it said I could sip it throughout the time I needed it instead of taking the whole thing at once, so I'll pace myself that way. I'm all about making sacrifices for the project, but I can't risk death.

10:00 AM-- So far, I'm feeling really good! I am alert and working well, no jitters, no cold sweats, no threat of the 'gutter junkie' so far, although I did notice that the "no crashing" clause is explained further as no sugar crash. I also read that I should only take half the bottle for moderate energy, the whole bottle for maximum energy. Definitely sticking to half.

Still sipping little bitter bits for the time being. I'm less nervous now.

11:00 AM-- Woo! I am all jacked-up on B-vitamins. I over-shot the halfway point of the bottle (because I couldn't stand the taste of the drink anymore and just knocked it back) and am definitely feeling the energy coursing through my veins right now. This little thing has made me a super-productive multi-tasking fool.

I was about to tell you all that I didn't have any jitters, but I just took my fingers off the keyboard and noticed that they are, in fact, shaking slightly.

I anticipate an epic crash in a couple hours.

12:00 PM-- No more jitters, and now I'm hanging in like a champ. I've still got all the energy I need to stay productive, although noon is typically the best time of day for me anyway. I'm never very tired between noon and two, so let's see if this 5-hour boost takes me through the 2:00 slump.

1:00 PM-- Not crashing, but definitely losing steam. Double down! Going for the last of the drink.

2:00 PM-- It's been 5 hours and I'm doing pretty well, feeling pretty normal actually. So glad about that! No need for fear afterall! If there's any significant changes/crashes/inability to sleep/etc later today, I'll inform you.

As for now, I give 5-hour Energy a pretty good review. Tastes terrible, got jitters earlier in the day, but I definitely didn't crash. I likely wouldn't take it again because it feels so unnatural to me, but I'm glad I can judge it appropriately.

Day 27: Is Mahjong a place in Mongolia?

After driving 10+ hours yesterday and the thrill/terror from shooting off fireworks, I was definitely ready for a slow "new things" day. All I hope is that the blog doesn't suffer.

Don't be too let down when I tell you that today, I learned how to play Mahjong. I have pretty vivid memories of my dad playing Mah Jong on his computer when I was a little girl, but I never knew what all the little tiles were, what to look for and how to play, so today at work I replaced Solitaire and Facebook with online radio and Mahjong.

I was pretty good at it. It's really just like open-hand Go Fish with Chinese characters. Just match up the numbers, directions, seasons, flowers, bamboo sticks and such to get rid of them...and you can only click tiles on edges. It's really not all that complicated, but looks WAY cooler than our silly Western games.

Surely that's a better, more intellecutal way to pass the time at work anyway, right?

Day 26: Fire Worked-Up

On our drive through Tennessee up to Ohio on Thursday, I noticed lots and lots of fireworks stores and thought it would be a great, fun, new thing to do to buy fireworks legally and shoot them off, since all the good ones are prohibited in Georgia. It was too late at night to buy them then, so I planned it for today on our trip back to Atlanta.

En route home, we stopped at Fireworks Supermarket, and went in to search for the firecracker we would eventually shoot off. The guys there were super eager to help and were thrilled to see us since they receive so few customers during the off-season.

We asked one over-eager young man something to the effect of "What's Good?" and he directed me to something that he described as "colorful," and "loud," saying that it was "better" than the one I was holding in my hand. I'm prone to accept help of others, so I took his advice.

In this particular section I was perusing, I saw this great video that was a beautiful fountain-like spray of sparkles and figured that would be a good beginner-level firework to set off. Mark and I purchased that and a couple others and went on my merry way.

We pulled over when it got dark and found a place to launch our rocket. We set up camp and made a plan, of the 'run this far,' 'I'll park here,' 'set it there' variety and lit the fuse.

I lit the fuse and ran as fast as I could away to watch the sparkle trickle down towards the firework. It stopped, and for a second, there was no response. Then, out of no where, I saw a little pellet shoot up into the air. What went off was ABSOLUTELY NOT a fountainy, sparkly, three-foot high blitz, but a freaking 5-story high, loud-cracking nuclear grade explosive that shot seven times.

Thank you over-eager young gentleman for directing me to the Tomahawk missile section. 'Preciate it.

I ran. I almost puked. I'm still freaked out. If you want to see what it looked like, go here: http://bit.ly/alaBHY

From now on, I'm leaving the fireworks to the pros.