The Monica way of doing things.

I just figured out a way to cross off a bunch of things on my to-do list in practically seconds.

Want to know my secret?

You make another to-do list that says 'Next week' and then you move a bunch of stuff to it.

That technically means I only have one thing to do today. Winning! Unfortunately, I have five things to do on Monday. And by five, I mean 17. And by 17 I mean I'm exaggerating and it's only really 13 things because I counted.

Anyway, back to the main topic. I need order and structure in life. Even if it's slightly over the top to have three to-do lists (I'm not even kidding), it does actually help me get stuff done.

Or...something.

I'm of the impression that you have to celebrate the small victories in life. I'll take it for now.

And I just remembered another thing I have to write down on my list. Hm.

Something like that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who experiences this.

(Lovingly stolen from Facebook.)

From one baby to another.

I had to wake up early this morning. Like, 5 a.m. early.

Somebody was not happy about that.

When I asked Penny if she wanted to go outside before 6 a.m., her response was to run across the house with her tail down. It was almost a sprint.

It took me a good 10 minutes to find her. She was hiding in the basement, sitting in a corner and pretending to be invisible.

Penny doesn't really like mornings, snow, or cold weather.

I don't either, but I don't hide when faced with any of those things. I also don't like playing hide and seek so early in the morning.

PENNY.

Perfect birthday.

The thing about Jan. 27 is that it's a perfect birthday.

You don't have to compete with Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's during the school year, so it won't be ignored like the summer birthdays. You also don't have to share it with Valentine's Day.

Jan. 27 also happens to be the birth date of the two most perfect little girls I know.

Happy birthday, babies! I'm so glad I got to meet you and hang out with you over the past two days. I'll get to see you more in the future.

:)

Life!

When I woke up this morning, I had my day planned out.

I had some stuff to do at work. I was going to make a cup of coffee. I was going to yoga tonight.

Well, none of that happened and I still haven't had that cup of coffee. I missed a pretty important phone call this morning. When that name popped up on my missed calls list, I knew what it meant.

It meant babies!

I got to meet my nieces today. They are little and perfect.

:)

"You are so much lighter than you think."

I'm reading 'The First Phone Call from Heaven' by Mitch Albom right now. I'm almost done with it and, as usual, I love it.

I love anything Mitch Albom does.

I'm dying to know how it ends, but I haven't had time to finish it yet. In the meantime, there are some wonderful quotes in this book that I want to share.

Such as:

"There is life after this life."

"Sometimes, love brings you together even as life keeps you apart."

"Although these people would have passed away eventually, the mystery of death is why it chooses a particular moment. With no earthly answer, coincidence can become a conspiracy."

"There are two stories for every life; the one you live, and the one others tell."

"Bad news has no limit. We often feel it should, like a rainstorm that can’t possibly get any heavier. But a storm can always worsen, and the burdens of life can, too."

"The pain you go through in life doesn’t really touch you…not the real you…You are so much lighter than you think."

"The only thing scarier than leaving a small town is never leaving it at all."

"Joy and sorrow share the water."

"Faith, it is said, is better than belief, because belief is when someone else does the thinking."

"They teach you, as children, that you might go to heaven. They never teach you that heaven might come to you."

"I’m saying people in grief can imagine many things. It makes them feel better. It doesn’t make it real."

"Fear is how you lose your life…a little bit at a time…What we give to fear, we take away from…faith."

"When people don’t believe in something, they’re lost."

"Jeff was quickly learning that the media had two sides; the side that wanted to get the news, and the side that wanted to make sure nobody else has it."

"Sometimes what you miss the most is the way a loved one made you feel about yourself."

The idealist

This made me laugh today: The five people you meet in journalism school.

I was definitely the idealist. From the story:

The idealist is on a first-name basis with his/her professors and can normally be found in the journalism school at all hours –class or no class. But when they are in class, the professor will bring up their work to show other students how it should be done.
The idealist has more LinkedIn connections or Twitter followers than you have actual friends. While you were off boozing, this spitfire was emailing back and forth with New York Times editors on his/her latest masterpiece.
The idealist doesn’t want to talk about their awards, but really they do. So much. Awards.
After graduation: The idealist ends up at a newspaper with a circulation of roughly 25K and is crestfallen when he/she learns their first assignment is not uncovering mass scandal, but rather, covering the annual (insert parade-worthy holiday here) parade.

Victory is sweet.

These posts are going to back track a little bit here. I missed a few days of blogging thanks to working over the weekend and the temperatures being in the 50s and 60s (in January!).

So, back to my Kansas City trip last week.

Professionally speaking, this is about as good as it gets. The process of entering this competition starts in October each year, and it’s about the most boring thing in the entire world to do.

You have to go through a year’s worth of your work, pick out the best stuff, pick which category it fits in, then write an essay evaluating the project and explaining if and how you met your objectives.

Yawn.

Then there’s a few weeks of anticipation when you (not so calmly) wait for a confirmation email that you won something and should attend the awards ceremony.

Once we got that email, I was elated. Yes, I’m excited that our work is respected by a jury of our peers. Yes, I’m glad we’re good enough to be considered award winning. (We won two awards for a website that we're working on, if you're wondering.)

But on a personal level, I was just glad that the awesome outfit I spent a couple weeks working on and planning was finally going to be worn.

God, I’m such a girl sometimes.

Anyway, last year I was pretty nervous going into this process. Who was going to be there? What were we going to win? Was it going to be a first place award, or a stupid merit award?

Last year I just remember standing in the crowd and looking at everyone else. Everyone seemed so fancy and professional, like they knew exactly what they were doing. I did not fit into that category.

This year was a little more relaxed. I was dressed nicer than I was last year. And, if I can be a little honest here, I was really looking forward to the beer.

And it did not disappoint. Victory is sweet.

I also inherited a bottle of wine from the same brewery to try out.

Sweet, sweet victory.

On Being an Introvert

Being an introvert is weird.

I had a massage for the first time yesterday morning. I wasn't nervous about it at all. It was fine and made my back feel like a rockstar.

Then I had a doctor's appointment. It also went fine.

What's not fine? Eating alone in a crowded restaurant at noon in a big(ish) city. I tried to stay in the restaurant, but I couldn't do it. I took the rest of my food out to my car and finished it.

Total strangers massaging me, poking and prodding me? Whatever. Total strangers eating at their tables, not paying attention to me? Oh my God, get me out of here, my little brain can't handle it.

I can't explain any of that to a person who's not an introvert.

Life's weird sometimes.

In the city

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Kansas City, looking at the view out of my 33rd story window.

There aren't a lot of cars out. It's almost 2 a.m., after all, and all I can see are building lights and street lights blinking red.

I did the same thing last year when I came to this event in this big-to-me-town. I think I'm going to make it a tradition - to turn all of the lights out in the room, go to the window, and just stare out into the city.

It's funny. You think you have a big problem in life, but suddenly looking out over a city you realize that your problems aren't actually that important. I love that feeling.

There are a couple of cars driving around. At 2 a.m., I wonder what the people in the cars are up to.

I'll post more about this night, this amazing, wonderful, beer-tastic night, some other time. Professionally speaking, it doesn't get much better than this.

For now, here's a daytime view of a city I don't make it to often and don't know very well.

Dreams and cars

I woke up this morning one minute before my alarm went off.

I woke up 'early' from a dream that I've never had before. In my dream, it was 11:50 a.m., and I was in a hotel in another state. The check-out time at the hotel was at noon, and none of my stuff was packed.

In my dream I was aimlessly roaming around, looking for my car. It was nowhere to be found, no matter what parking lot I searched. I was going to lose everything in my hotel room because I couldn't find that stupid car.

In the one minute between the dream and my alarm going off, I Googled 'dreams of losing your car' on my phone. One of my first findings was a link with the headline, 'The 5 Most Common Stress Dreams.'

I immediately shut my phone off and regretted that Google search.

I also turned my first two alarms off and relaxed until the last alarm went off, 30 minutes later.

Thanks for telling me something I already know, dream. How nice and thoughtful of you.

Irony

Last night my mom and I went through some old books in the basement.

My brother and I had these books when we were little. My mom and I separated them into two totes for my brother and I. 

My brother has two kids on the way. It was fun going through the books, imagining which ones I wanted to read to my nieces first (when they're old enough). I recognized and remembered most of my old books, and I took time to thumb through some of them. 

The best books were two of mine. My mom picked them up, nonchalantly said, "Oh, those are Monica's," tossed them my way and kept on sorting.

Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. 

In other news, I have two root canals scheduled for next week. 

I appreciate the irony.

My cup of tea (or coffee)

I'm not above buying myself a Christmas gift.

This year, I decided to either give myself the gift of coffee or the gift of jewelry. Coffee won.

I bought a Keurig, which, if I can speak honestly, is a little life-changing. That thing brings me so much happiness, I can't even begin to describe it.

A hot apple cider in the morning? Don't mind if I do. A hot apple cider at 3:47 p.m.? Heck, why not!

There's also an added perk I wasn't expecting. In the event that you have a month-long case of bronchitis, also known as The Cough or The Monica, drinking something hot in the morning and afternoon cures the coughing fits.

This little dude benefits both my lungs and my taste buds.

It was a good decision on my part.

On having pants

The good news is that after a very bronchital trip to Nebraska, I'm officially a Kansan again.

The other bit of good news is that I officially got everything out of my hotel room this time. The last time Nebraska and I met, it kept my pants and my flat iron.

Kansas 1, Nebraska 1.

Until next time, neighbor to the north.

On Life and Struggles

I think it's normal to think you're the only one going through problems.

Every once in a while, I'm reminded of the bigger picture. Today was one of those days.

I'm in central Nebraska at a conference my company hosts every year. Around 100 people show up from several different states.

This is a quote my company's CEO told a crowd of about 100 people this morning. It's wonderful.

"There are times you have to take a machete and hack your way through the jungle. Those people who are hacking their way through the jungle? They need help. When you help, you don’t know how much of a difference that makes." 

I have a small pharmacy in my hotel room. I'm going to work on that, and go to sleep.

Goodnight!

I Has The Sick

My life hurts.

People, we're approaching the one-month mark of me not feeling well. A doctor's visit over Christmas break resulted in a nurse sticking a Q-Tip up my nose and telling me the next day that I didn't have the flu.

So if it's not the flu, what is it?

I was told it was bronchitis. I took a round of antibiotics, expecting to feel better after it was finished.

That never really happened.

Hm...if I went to a doctor and didn't get better, what do I do now?

This morning a co-worker took me aside and gave me the name and number of a new place to go to. They'd help me out, she said.

I feel bad, because this problem is getting on my nerves. I can't imagine how irritating I am to be around right now because of The Cough.

I wasn't planning on going back to a doctor when I got up this morning, but at this point, I'm desperate and I'll try anything.

The nurse practitioner I went to asked me if I wanted to treat it slow or aggressively.

I almost yelled and thought about doing cartwheels.

Aggressive, please. Let's be aggressive.

I have new medicine to take, an inhaler to try, prescription cough syrup to help me sleep at night, Mucinex, and Emergen-C to drink.

All in time for my road trip tomorrow.

Also, as I told some people today, The Cough and I go way back. We're starting to become bffs.

This is one crappy, sucky bff.

Conversations

Here are some conversations I've had this week.

Me: "Mom, did you eat the rest of my guacamole?"
Mom: "Yes. Dad and I finished it."
Me: "Why would you do that?"
Mom: "Because it's delicious."
Me: "...okay."

-----

My mom, while watching the Cotton Bowl and seeing a football player on the phone on the sidelines: "Who's he talking to? Does he have a hot date?"

There are some good aspects of living in your hometown. Quoting your family is one of them.

Pieces

Welcome to 2014!

I'm not a New Year's resolutions person. I've never made any resolutions and I don't think I ever will.

I do, however, have a few hopes that I'm wishing will come true.

I've already been working on almost all of these. They include:

- Financial freedom, including getting my damn car paid off and learning to live within my budget. I would say I came a long way on this goal in 2013. My car will be paid off soon. It's liberating.

- To be healthy and happy. I joined a gym in 2013 and started doing yoga. I quit eating like a hung-over college student. I quit eating a lot of processed food and started eating more fruits and vegetables. I've also come a long way in figuring out what type of foods my body can and can't handle. I don't need the heartburn medication anymore because I know how to avoid that problem naturally. Again, liberating.

- The biggest goal in 2014: To buy a house. This is a huge task that seems impossible. Buying a house by yourself is terrifying. It's scary and overwhelming. It's also something I need to do to prove to myself that I can do this and that, yes, I do deserve this.

In 2013 I decided to quit focusing on trying to fix other people's problems. Instead, I started fixing my own problems and my own life.

The result is a pretty amazing life that I'm still working on and still trying to improve.

And you know what? I'll never stop trying to make my life better.

Today's theme song is Pieces.

I've been broken, torn and scattered
I've loved holy, I've loved sin
I was rolling on the wind
It didn't matter

I was so sure of who I didn't want to be
Every smile and every fear
Every laugh and every tear
It was all mine, it was all me

Pieces of my heart
Pieces of my soul
Pieces that I'm gonna be
I don't even know
I gave a lot to lovers
Gave a lot to friends
Everything I took from them
Made me who I am
Pieces

We've all been lied to
We've all been liars
Nothing's perfect in this world
Everybody's been burned by the fire
Guess I'm learning
That what breaks you, makes you grow
But I'm not hiding where I've been
Gonna let the light shine in
What I don't need
Gonna let that, let that, let that go

Pieces, the good and the bad
Pieces, the happy and sad
Pieces, the wrong and the right
Pieces, that's my, that's my, that's my life

Pieces, pieces