Alright, let's do this thing. Seven minutes to go. Or will I get stuck partway through and have to jet? Or just end up being really late again like I was yesterday? Unrelated to my writing, I was just spending too much time in Google Reader instead of getting ready for work. I made it to work on time, but barely.
Last night, I learned that five of my colleagues were killed when someone exploded a bomb and then opened fire on them at our office in Pakistan. We have 40,000 people in our organization, so I'm pretty sure I didn't know them*, but it's still incredibly sad. For their coworkers, for their families, and even for the people who did this... these were Pakistanis killing Pakistanis who were working to help other Pakistanis. It's amazing how short sighted people can be over the idea of religion. (*I used to have a lot more Facebook friends of colleagues around the world, but I did a paring back a few months ago and got rid of a lot of people I didn't know personally.)
I think it's this kind of thing that makes people point to religion and want nothing to do with it, labeling extremists as their easy excuse to separate themselves from the idea of believing in anything. But anyhow, I don't want this to become yet another thing about religion. I don't feel I really have the chops to do it justice.
So... hmmm... topic change. I'm blanking. I don't know if I want to write about how my dad had a birthday that he celebrated with mom and grandma and doesn't seem to want to celebrate with his children and grandchildren. (Wouldn't work too well now, we're all booked up since we couldn't get a commitment from them to put anything on the calendar.)
Maybe next year Jeff and Hilary and Andrew and Lori and Rachel and Ben and I may just have to force the issue and have a party at their house, whether they're there or not. That, actually, would be kinda funny. To go over there, decorate, eat cake and then leave. They'd come home to find dishes in the sink, some cake in the refrigerator, some decorations and a bunch of wrapping paper in the recycling.
Nope, didn't make it. Over halfway but time's up. Ok, I'll keep writing for a few more minutes.
Our health thing is coming up again at the end of the month. I hate how it comes so soon after the holidays and right at the tail end of the unpleasant weather. We suggest that if it came in late August instead that we'd all get better results. I suppose, however, they might argue that would be because we all "crammed" and worked hard in the nice months and that it's probably not healthy for us to do poorly for much of the year and then just improve at the last minute... yeah yeah yeah... marathon not a sprint blah blah blah. Still, it seems cruel. I guess the only thing crueler would be to do the thing in early January.
I got a 75 and you had to have a minimum of 71 in order to get the discount on your health insurance. I think I'll do slightly better this year, I'm a bit lighter. Not sure how much, maybe 5 or 6 pounds. No, wait... Wii Fit says 11 pounds. Nice. So maybe I have found some benefit. (Been doing it since last April but feel like progress is slow.) My latest trick that's been working is I've decided to tell or email Lori everything I'm eating. It's really helped me stay away from the giant evil boxes of candy my boss has kept on his corner of the table right next to me. At the end of the month, he moves a little further away so hopefully the candy goes with him. If it doesn't I might have to protest lightly. But I'm encouraged. Even if it's not entirely accurate, I think that's more than I was expecting to have seen lost. Especially considering I haven't used extremely drastic measures.
I have also tried to do better with nighttime snacking. I would often be hungry late at night, so I'd snack after dinner. That's partially gone because I would have to tell Lori about it and I didn't realize until I decided that how often I would get a handful of trail mix or granola or Ben's goldfish grahams or little vanilla cookies from the top of the fridge or what, but apparently I was constantly getting into stuff in that time after the kids went to bed while I was cleaning up in the kitchen. The other night, on Lori's advice, when I did need a snack, I had apples and peanut butter. But a few other nights this week I've just gone to bed hungry and surprised myself -- I was convinced that I'd have trouble sleeping or that I'd wake up repeatedly during the night starving. I have, however, woken up in the mornings with a grumbling stomach, including this morning, so I should go get ready so I can get to work and have breakfast. After stopping at Fred Meyer to buy it, that is. Unless I forget my wallet again. Grumble. Happy day, all.