Thursday update

After my sighting of a flock of robins, spring fever has taken full hold of my soul.

Yesterday I had lots to do, not much time to do it in, so I came in early and had lunch at my desk. However, during my lunch break, I had a shoegasm. A shoegasm you say? What could that be?

Nordstroms.com, baby. Sandals. All 800+ pairs of them. Online for my viewing pleasure. OH My God, it was glorious.

Last year I basically killed off most of my sandals. I could wear them to work all summer long and so I did. Most of them looked pretty ratty by the end of the season so I threw them out -- about 6 pairs of sandals went out the door. Now I am in need of new sandals and with this spring fever I have, I am eager to get my sandal-buying ways on. I was hoping my partner in crime (in sandals) would be around today for a quick trip to ogle the sandals down at Carson Pirie Scott or Nordie's but she had a sick kiddo this morning and wasn't in until afternoon. I had to hold myself back. So, Nordstroms.com it was and I found several pairs that made my heart happy. I may need to venture down there to check them out for myself.

After my shoegasm, I was nearly giddy with pleasure. PM thought I was a nutjob, having had spoken of sandals since we first saw each other at 8 a.m. However, he had a bit of the spring fever himself yesterday with a grass-green dress shirt on that practically screamed Spring! as he walked through the door.

Damn I love sandals. I am getting a pedicure next Saturday and can hardly wait.

As I was leaving work to head to my hair appointment, I get a call from HR, wanting to have dinner. I was on the phone with work (yes, I know, leaving work, on phone with work, wtf? I Know!), so I had to call him back. Turns out he wanted to have dinner and I was all about that, but had to explain that it would be 8 p.m. or after by the time Evolution had finished doing his magic on my head. HR was cool with that so I went off to the gym.

I worked out first, hopping on the bike to get a quick 6 miles in. Man, my ass is sore today! Sore ass = small ass? I don't know, but I sure hope so. I finished up and had about 20 minutes before I was due in Evolution's magic chair so I chilled out in the salon, relaxing, reading my magazine. It was lovely.

When I first sat in Evolution's chair, he asked me what I wanted this time. Each time is different ... sometimes more color, sometimes less, sometimes more trim, sometimes less. Obviously I was suffering from intense spring fever so I told him to bring out some summer on my head.

He totally did and I LOVE IT!!! It is a whole lot more blonde than I expected but at the same time, I am completely in love with it. Evolution, a million kisses and hugs my friend. You are a rock star!!

As per usual, we spent our time together (2.5+ hours) talking of all things religion, life, personal experiences, family, etc. I think the reason why Evolution and I get along so well is that we are both on continuous journeys into knowledge ... the more the better. I learn so much from him when I am in his chair. Last night was all about Islam. We talked about the concepts of heaven and hell for Islam and how in Islam, heaven is open to people of all faiths, quite unlike Christianity, which shows only one path to heaven. I was quite surprised to hear that Islam says there are 7 levels of heaven, as there are 7 levels of hell. Ever heard of the phrase, 'I am in 7th heaven'? Bet I know where that comes from now. Interesting. Very interesting. Then we discussed a pagan ritual he will be attending soon (yes, pagan, I tell you, Evolution is one amazing guy).

At about 8:15 I roll out of his chair (I had been there since 5:30), and head back into the gym to change clothes for dinner. I call HR, suggest Santorini's and offer to pick him up in 20 minutes.

Ah, Santorini's. *sigh*

It should be said that I *love* Greek food. I could eat Greek food pretty much any day of the week.

The food was made only better by my company. HR is truly a brother in spirit to me. He and I share a lot of the same feelings about people, have similiar viewpoints on issues and each time I am with him I utterly enjoy it. We talked all about Lost and our theories on it (boy, he blew my mind with a couple of them) and generally enjoyed what was a lovely supper. Thanks, H, for the invite to supper and for the lovely company. You were just what I needed.

After dropping HR off, I drove home listening to music, singing in my car. It was a lovely end to a great day.

Ah, spring!

Flock of Robins

Yesterday as I was driving to the gym after work I spotted a flock, yes flock, of robins. About 40-50 of them, all together, just hanging out on a tree and nearby ground. I wanted to shout: SPRING IS COMING!!! OH THANK GOD!!! But I did not, content to smile in wonderment of a sign of spring.

Yes, I am aware that the robins are not the official bird of spring ... that, in actuality, it is the red-winged blackbird that signals the return of spring. However, there is a joyous moment when one sees a bird one has not seen in many months and it is apparent that they are in a migratory pattern north ... meaning only one thing: a warm up is coming.

I don't know about any of you, but February is my hardest month of the year. It is cold, it is gray, it is dreary and it is, for the shortest month of the year, nearly never-ending. As a friend said yesterday, 'there is not enough seratonin for this time of the year.' She is right. There is not. Honestly, Indianapolis would be a happier place in February if Lilly would agree to dump copious amounts of Prozac into the water system for the month.

Yesterday's accomplishments included getting a proposal out the door, getting a workout in and finishing a book I had started on Sunday afternoon. Strangers In Death is the title and the author is J.D. Robb. It is a series of books (read in order ... like Sue Grafton) about a homicide lieutenant in 2060. Actually, the series starts in 2057, I believe, but I digress. The characters are well-written, the plotlines twisted and with each successive book I become more invested in the story. If you haven't read J.D. Robb, I highly recommend. As for the workout, I pushed myself and feel really good today :)

Tonight is an appointment with Evolution, my fantastic stylist. It is cut/color time again and I think I'll have him put some blonde in for a 'spring/summer' look. He typically mixes in three colors so I am always surprised by the color but exceedingly happy with it at the same time. After the hc and color I'll hit the gym again. I'll need to stretch after spending 2.5 hours in the chair !!

Tomorrow night looks like a trip to a client's office ... ugh. Not exactly thrilled about visiting a client on Friday night but there appears to be future work involved (!!) so the possibilities of paying off the house in four years very much appeal to my inner miser. Yes, I know I keep saying I'm going to drop the outside work but if I can keep it to this pace (one grant per round) I can probably juggle what I need to juggle to make it work.

Other weekend tasks include the removal of the washer/dryer from my garage, another tile estimate (this time by a client who does side work), planting what is left of my bulbs from last fall (sprouting in my garage ... it got too cold too quick here to get them all in the ground) and general slackassery.