Rantings of a S.A.D. person

This rant was spurred on by a bad hair day, a bad skin day compounded with cold weather and the threat of more snow not once but twice this week.

As many of you know, I am not a fan of cold weather. I hate winter and all that comes with it. Last year, I was in serious winter funk and decided that I wouldn't let winter get me down this year. I knew that it was more than a winter "funk" and diagnosed myself with S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder -a form of mild depression due to changes in the season). The internet is a wonderful thing. All of my symptons matched that of a person suffering from it. I did some research and found out that for people that suffer from a mild case of SAD taking a Vitamin D supplement and buying a SAD lamp (artificial sunlight therapy). I started taking the Vitamin D  and it seemed to be working. I don't have the lamp but after the last couple of days I've been having, I think I'm going to need one. Over the weekend we got a little snow - around 4 inches. Not too bad. It didn't cripple the DMV like the 20+ inches we got in December. Before we got the latest batch of snow, it was on the 50s. It was so nice. And then POW! back to the 30s and then snow. Yeah, big change. We went from spring-like weather back to winter in the blink of an eye. Mother Nature is such a tease.

Yesterday (Monday) was an awful, awful day. I don't know if it was a case of the Mondays or if the Vitamin D pills have stopped working.  I was having a bad hair day, bad skin day, bad outfit day. I had a terrible night that woke me up and it took me a while to go back to sleep. I ended up oversleeping. When I walked outside, it was cold and icy. I slipped a couple of times walking to my car. Then I had to scrape ice off my car. I was wearing the wrong boots so my feet got wet because I had to stand in unmelted snow to scrape the ice off the passenger side windows. By the time I got to work, I wanted to close my office door and cry. But unfortunately, my office mate showed up so I didn't have the luxury of giving in to my mini-breakdown. I don't think I said one word to anyone yesterday. I went to the mall during my lunch break and bought a couple of books and had Chik-fil-A for lunch. That helped a bit. Other than the trip to the mall, I stayed in my little corner of my world and waited for 4:30 so that I could go home.

Today's Tuesday and I'm still feeling like crap. More snow today and into tomorrow. I heard that we're getting even more snow this weekend. And it could be a doozy. I hate winter. I feel like I'm being held hostage by the weather. I feel like I can't do anything that requires me to step outside my front door. I'm at the point where when it's sunny, it doesn't help my mood. If the temp is less than 45 degrees, I feel terrible. I need warmth, heat. No amount of layering is going to provide that.  I don't understand people who love winter. I look at them like they're crazy. What's to like? Having dry, itchy skin? You have to bathe in lotion so that you aren't scratching inappropriately throughout the day. Forget having good hair days because any cute style hair you had leaving the house is now flattened by your winter hat. Pale, sallow skin that you can't add a hint of color to because your face is so dry and flaky that wearing makeup exacerbates the problem? And let's not get into trying to navigate around snow, ice, unplowed streets and terrible drivers. Oh yeah, winter is just wonderful!

To get through the rest of this atrocity called Winter, I'm going to buy the sun lamp and double up on my Vitamin D pills. I'm going to do whatever I can to distract me from the misery of this weather.

The bears have it right. I wish I could hibernate through winter. I would find a nice, cozy cave and hang a side that would read: Do Not Wake Until Spring.

NOT a Fashionista. Extreme Makeover Needed.

I was at Target this afternoon doing my usual Sunday shopping. As I'm walking up and down the aisles I kept noticing different women and how they were dressed. One woman was wearing skinny jeans and cute motorcyle boots with a cutesy sweater. Another lady was wearing black jeans with black boots and a cute wrap top. And as I'm walking I look down at myself; bootcut jeans, a little on the baggy side, cuffed at the bottom because they are too long. A UVA hoodie and old white PUMA sneakers with grass stains around the toe. And my hair was pulled back in a nappy ponytail. I looked a hot mess! I can't believe I came out in public looking like this! What is wrong with me? The answer to that question: I still dress like I'm in college and I've gotten lazy. The UVA sweatshirt is from my college days which means it's at least 15 years old. And I still wear it religiously every weekend during the Fall and Winter.

Even though I'm just out running errands and getting a little grocery shopping down, I should take some time to put myself together. You never know who you're going to run into. It's a small world. I could run into someone I went to college with. I don't want them telling people how bad I looked! You remember when you were little and your mom would always make sure you're wearing clean underwear in case you get into an accident. Well I feel that way about my "running around" attire. I need to start putting some effort into my appearance. I could use the excuse that I dress up 5 days a week for work (well really 4 because Friday is Casual Day). But I can't honestly use that as an excuse. I do the bare minimum to get myself ready for work - shower, comb my hair, put on clothes that resemble business casual and yet still be comfortable. I don't wear heels.  I have some black Skecher shoes that look like tennis shoes but aren't that I wear to work. And my pants are long enough that people can really see my shoes so no one's the wiser.

These shoes are a life saver! They started off as being shoes I would change into at the end of the day. Now they've become a staple in my work wardrobe.

 I like being comfortable. But being comfortable doesn't mean I should look a hot mess! I need to start dressing like an adult. I need to put more effort in my appearance. This week I started wearing makeup - daily. This is a big deal because I normally only wear makeup when I'm going out. But this week the weather has been nasty and I was starting to get into my Fall/Winter funk. So I decided to derail the funk by doing things that will make me feel better. And wearing makeup actually does make me feel better. I don't know why but it does. I put more effort into my outfits for work. I actually wore heels and resisted the urge to wear my big sweaters everyday of the week. These are huge steps for me. Hopefully I can keep it up.

I need to upgrade my weekend wear. I don't want to be extreme and dress like I'm about to go to a club when I'm only going to the grocery store, but I could try to put my effort in my appearance. And looking good on the outside does boost the self-esteem. You walk taller with a little strut in your stride.  We will see how it goes. The weather has turned cool so it is going to be a struggle not to go back to my UVA sweatshirts and big sweaters. I actually have cute clothes in my closets and some of them actually fit!

Hopefully my "extreme makeover" is successful. Wish me luck! I'm hoping not to go out in public looking like this again!

Rainy Weekend

The weather in the DMV has been downright awful this past week! It has been cold (low to mid 40s) with a constant rain/drizzle. It's only mid-October but it feels like December weather. I'm not happy. I was hoping the transition to colder temps would happen more slowly but instead we were slapped in the face! This week the temps are going to slowly warm up to the 60s with sun! I can't remember the last day we had some sun. I miss the sun.

Due to the nasty weather, I wanted to spend the entire weekend indoors. Unfortunately that wasn't gonna happen. We had tickets to see Patrice O'Neal at the DC Improv. I really didn't want to go but we'd already ordered the tickets online three weeks ago. And the show was at 10:30! Another reason why I didn't want to go. Too late for my weary bones. But we went out into the drizzling rain and the cold and headed into DC. Let me just say that I am so glad we went. The show was hilarious! Two comedians opened for Patrice O'Neal - Brian Parise and Harris Stanton. They were both funny but Harris had me rolling on the floor. I was laughing so hard my stomach was hurting. That's a good laugh! Patrice O'Neal was funny as hell. I was hesitant about his show because I'd never seen him do stand-up. He is hilarious. And the best part was after the show, when everyone was leaving, Patrice O'Neal was out in the lobby shaking hands and taking pictures with the patrons. He's a big dude. I went up to him and shook his hand and told him it was a great show. I wish I'd thought to take a picture with him!

Darrius' soccer game was canceled Saturday due to the weather so I decided to take him to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. He's been asking to go see the movie and he rarely asks to see a movie in the theater. We went to the 11:40 show. The theater was pretty much empty - just how I like it. I can't believe how much it costs to see a 3D movie. The total came to $23 bucks for just the two of us! But we did get some snazzy 3D glasses.

After the movies we headed over to Johnny Rockets for lunch. I told Darrius that when we get home, I'm taking a nap. And that's exactly what I did. By the time Alfred got home from work, I was awake and thinking about dinner. I made chili (it was the perfect weather for it). My plan was to read for the rest of the evening. I have about 5 books calling my name. But as I was channel surfing I saw that Slumdog Millionaire was getting ready to start. I absolutely love this movie. And I was so happy when it racked up at the Oscars earlier this year. No reading will be getting done tonight.  I got comfy on the couch and watched one of my favorite movies.

Today the rain finally stopped. The sun was still missing in action but that's okay. It had warmed up a little to the low 50s. My plan was to stay indoors today. I read. Actually finished the book that I'd been reading the last 2 weeks. I decided to go to the store and get a couple of things. So I didn't completely stick to the plan to stay inside today but what the hell. I'm not a bear. I can't hibernate...or can I?

Despite the weather, it turned out to be a nice weekend. How was your weekend?