Most of the time, I'm just a normal, type A perfectionist, but lately I've had the feeling that I'm too much of a hardass. But in my own defense, I truly think my rigorous self discipline is the only way I can possibly accomplish everything on my plate right now.
Here is a typical weekday in the life of Samantha.
From 8am - 4pm every day I'm at work, which has been quite busy lately because I've been working on not only my own projects, but also re-doing the experiments of a co-worker to confirm her results. I've also been trying to complete a draft of a scientific journal article describing the project that I've been working on for the past 2 years.
Obviously, while I'm at work I'm not able to attend to much in my personal life. At the end of the day, I leave work, get changed into workout clothes, and immediately go to the gym. I do 45 - 60 minutes of exercise which is generally a combination of using the eliptical machine, lifting weights, squats, and push ups. I leave the gym by 6pm, unless I have to go grocery shopping for me and John for the week. At some point, I return to the apartment, shower, then start cooking dinner, or John may be able to cook dinner if he's home. Dinner's done by 7:30pm or so, then my "free" time starts. Usually, John and I use the rest of the night to catch up on all the shows we've recorded on our DVR. If I'm being a hardass, I'll dedicate 1-2 hours of my "free" time to either wedding planning activities or house hunting activities. Inevitably, it gets late, I go to sleep and wake up to do it all again.
I shouldn't be surprised that I've fallen into such a strict routine. Throughout my life I've had friends (and even my Dad once upon a time) tell me that I have to "loosen up" or "just relax" and "it'll all work out." Well guess what? I agree! Take tonight for example. John is working until 8pm or 9pm tonight. I came home after work and did 45 minutes of vigorous yoga in lieu of going to the gym. I've eaten dinner and ..... here I sit. I have the night to myself.... to do whatever I want, and I feel obligated to do wedding stuff or house hunting stuff or clean the apartment or something. It's because I'm a hardass.
Now, before you get all depressed and try to rescue me, I do manage to have fun, mostly because of my fiance, John. Together, we've done muay thai kickboxing, aikido, and have become big roller derby fans (and now John is a derby man himself, on the Albany men's team). He's introduced me to the world of movies and together we've watched more movies than I ever would have watched on my own. We're planning to take some pottery classes together (side note: the pottery studio is run by a derby girl, B-Side Blaze). He knows that I miss having a yard / garden, which is not possible in apartment life, and he arranged for us to have a plot in the local Community Garden. John brings me joy. When he has to work late because of an event at the performing arts center, he's been known to bring home yummy desserts from the cafe for me. He supports me and comforts me and reminds me to have fun and I love him. So in the end, maybe I'm not such a hardass afterall.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Too much to say
Today at work, I had a conversation with my friend/co-worker/bridesmaid, EP, about the difficulty of expressing one's feelings. Not sappy, hug-a-friend-and-cry type of feelings, but simply the ability to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and tell the world what's going on in my life. I find that sometimes even writing in a private journal can be difficult when I have too much to say or don't know where to start. To make things more challenging, a blog is not just an online journal. Sure, I hope this blog will be an artistic outlet for me, but I also want my posts to be interesting and insightful for my readers.
To this end, EP gave me some great advice to get me started. If I have so much too say that I don't even know where to start, begin with bullet-points and expand on a topic when inspiration strikes. Good advice! So here it goes;
= I live in Albany, NY with my fiance, John. We met about 2 years ago through eHarmony. Yup, that's right. We were both new to the Capital District and thought online dating would be the best way to meet someone with similar values and interests. Joining eHarmony was one of the best decisions that I've ever made because it brought John and I together when, on our own, we may never have met.
= John and I currently share our 2 bedroom apartment with two cats, who traveled with me from Knoxville, TN. One of the cats is 12 years old (from now on I'll refer to her as "Twitch") and has unexplained seizures. She needs a pill every 12 hours to prevent the seizures and her medicine schedule pretty much rules our social life. If we go out of town, or even if we want to have a late night, we have to pay a pet sitter to visit our apartment to give her the anti-seizure medication. Or I have to stop what I'm doing/leave the party to go home and give her the pill, then I can resume my night. Our other cat (I'll refer to him as "Kitten") is about 3 years old and pretty much normal.... except that he's a little "chubby" and he has a small non-cancerous lump on his hind leg and he likes to wake me up in the morning by incessantly licking my hands and he will play fetch if you throw a toy for him.
= I'm a microbiologist, specializing in mycobacterial genetics. John is a box office manager of a performing arts center; he oversees ticketing for artistic performances, concerts, and other events. What can I say?.... opposites attract!
= John and I are getting married in 6 1/2 months!
= In addition to planning our wedding, we're also house hunting.
= Our parents may be meeting each other for the first time two weeks from now.
= John's best friend, CM, is getting married in June. We're traveling down to the gulf coast to attend the wedding and for John to serve as a groomsman in the bridal party.
= My fiance is member of the Capital District Trauma Authority, the first men's roller derby league in Albany area. They have their first bout against the Quadfathers on the same weekend that our parents will be meeting for the first time. Oh boy..... a lot's happening that weekend.
I'll stop here for now, for fear that this post is getting too lengthy. The bullet point format seemed to work and at least helped me get the ball rolling (thanks EP!). This blog thing might not be that bad afterall. I hope you keep reading.
~Sam
To this end, EP gave me some great advice to get me started. If I have so much too say that I don't even know where to start, begin with bullet-points and expand on a topic when inspiration strikes. Good advice! So here it goes;
= I live in Albany, NY with my fiance, John. We met about 2 years ago through eHarmony. Yup, that's right. We were both new to the Capital District and thought online dating would be the best way to meet someone with similar values and interests. Joining eHarmony was one of the best decisions that I've ever made because it brought John and I together when, on our own, we may never have met.
= John and I currently share our 2 bedroom apartment with two cats, who traveled with me from Knoxville, TN. One of the cats is 12 years old (from now on I'll refer to her as "Twitch") and has unexplained seizures. She needs a pill every 12 hours to prevent the seizures and her medicine schedule pretty much rules our social life. If we go out of town, or even if we want to have a late night, we have to pay a pet sitter to visit our apartment to give her the anti-seizure medication. Or I have to stop what I'm doing/leave the party to go home and give her the pill, then I can resume my night. Our other cat (I'll refer to him as "Kitten") is about 3 years old and pretty much normal.... except that he's a little "chubby" and he has a small non-cancerous lump on his hind leg and he likes to wake me up in the morning by incessantly licking my hands and he will play fetch if you throw a toy for him.
= I'm a microbiologist, specializing in mycobacterial genetics. John is a box office manager of a performing arts center; he oversees ticketing for artistic performances, concerts, and other events. What can I say?.... opposites attract!
= John and I are getting married in 6 1/2 months!
= In addition to planning our wedding, we're also house hunting.
= Our parents may be meeting each other for the first time two weeks from now.
= John's best friend, CM, is getting married in June. We're traveling down to the gulf coast to attend the wedding and for John to serve as a groomsman in the bridal party.
= My fiance is member of the Capital District Trauma Authority, the first men's roller derby league in Albany area. They have their first bout against the Quadfathers on the same weekend that our parents will be meeting for the first time. Oh boy..... a lot's happening that weekend.
I'll stop here for now, for fear that this post is getting too lengthy. The bullet point format seemed to work and at least helped me get the ball rolling (thanks EP!). This blog thing might not be that bad afterall. I hope you keep reading.
~Sam
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
His point of view
As I mentioned, JDC has also started a blog which can be found here
allovertheplace-john.blogspot.com
We'll probably be writing about many of the same topics, but in completely different ways.
Enjoy!
~Sam
allovertheplace-john.blogspot.com
We'll probably be writing about many of the same topics, but in completely different ways.
Enjoy!
~Sam
Here I Am
My wonderful fiance suggested that we start a blog to keep our family and friends in-the-loop of our crazy New York life. At first I was hesitant, and even now, I'm unsure about the whole idea. My hesitation is mostly fueled by self doubt and perfectionism (me? a perfectionist?). I should also warn the readers that I haven't written anything outside of scientific manuscripts and laboratory notebook entries in over 5 years. It may take one or two entries, or quite a few entries, to awaken the poet within. But be patient, it'll happen. And hopefully you'll enjoy learning about my life along the way :-)
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