Beauty in Diversity

This leaf astounds me.

Beauty isn't about perfection.

It's about all parts coming together to form the whole.

The beauty of one-ness.

expect payment for a second date

Last week I worked three days at a flower shop. This is the very first job I landed six months ago when I arrived in Buffalo but I quit after only a few weeks. For some reason I couldn’t stand to be left alone all day with the flowers, an ancient dog, and an average of one customer every few hours.

At the time my reasons for quitting were that I wanted a job that “fit me”, one where I actually interacted with people and where I didn’t feel like I was sitting around pedaling an exercise bike instead of flying down trails at break-neck speeds on a mountain bike, as has been my M.O. for the last few years. But, after many months of unemployment (and a stint in an even worse job), I came crawling back to my former employer who seemed only too happy to call me in a few days a week. This time around it wasn’t so bad dusting vases, cutting flowers and walking an old dog to the corner and back once an hour. It’s amazing how one’s perspective can change from negative to positive when you give it a little incentive, for example monthly college loan payments looming over ones head every month.

Now though, it seems that even the flower shop is behind me. On Thursday of last week, I sat around in a hotel lobby, flirting with an older woman for half an hour and she offered me a job afterwards! Some may call that an interview but, as I drove home I realized how similar it seemed to picking up someone at a bar. I mean, you introduce yourself, smile, say something funny about the weather, talk a little about yourself, smile some more, make sure to laugh at any attempt they make to be funny (even if it’s clearly not funny), answer all their questions and usually (if you’re a good flirt) you exchange numbers. Basically, you’re checking the other person out to see if they’re a good fit for you. Which is why, to prepare for an interview, I suggest you go speed dating! It’ll teach you how to quickly sell your most noteworthy attributes!

On the same day I had my interview, I dropped my resume off at a restaurant where Zach I have made some friends. The owner didn’t even make me fill out an application. She called me a few days later and now, believe it or not, I went from having no job to having three in the course of two weeks! What a luxury to be choosy about where I work.

The flower shop is history and I’m crossing all fingers and toes that I can finagle my schedules to work as both a waitress and a hotel desk clerk. It should be fine because one is for the night shift! Who needs sleep when you have Tim Horton as a friend; I hear his coffee is to die for!  

non-ice cream photo

Beautiful Ukrainian Carrots

Yummy and delicious...so why can't I desire these 

instead of ice cream???

ice cream diet

For personal reasons of self-discipline and self-control (aka torture) or maybe to add structure and purpose to my sometimes dismal unemployed existence; I’ve decided to train for a marathon. So, for the next six months, I’ll be adding some serious mileage to this body of mine.

I embarked on a similar journey my sophomore year of college, consistently trained for five weeks, and then contracted mono and strep throat in the same week! Needless to say, a small wrench was thrown into my plans. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get to contract mono the fun way: it was from an accidental sharing of chapstick or water bottle. I know this because my roommate at the time (who happened to be my cousin) got it first and sadly, I’ve never been on kissing terms with any of my cousins. Also, as a side note, because of this case of mono, my second ever boyfriend wouldn’t kiss me for the last six months of our nine-month relationship. No wonder it didn’t last. Not that I’m not bitter or anything…

Okay, okay, back to the marathon training. I’ve been a vegetarian for about 2 years and a few weeks ago I decided to modify my diet even further to help me reach my 26.2 mile goal in June. Actually, this part is Zach’s fault. He gleaned a modified version of this diet from my health-nut aunt from Arizona over Christmas. Basically, we’ve been trying to eat about 80% fresh vegetables and protein (in the form of egg whites), with a few pieces of bread every now and then.

Everything is going fine except I can’t stop thinking about ice cream! I desire it more on a daily basis than I desire anything else (which maybe doesn’t say much about my sex life). ANYWAY…despite all my best efforts to eat right and exercise, let’s just say, Zach, Ben, and Jerry are the three people I hang out with most.