Adios Metro

When I started my job in the city, I figured it would not even be an option to drive in, that I would be a full-time metro rider. I had been taking the metro to my Arlington job and had kinda grown accustomed to it. Why would I want to sit in traffic when I could sleep on the metro? I figured rush hour traffic would be ridiculous and parking would be way too expensive. I was content with riding the metro… I always had a seat in the morning and even though I had to stand most of the way home, I was the last stop and never had to worry about missing it.

But then the metro started getting unreliable. The prices started going up. The time between trains started to increase even though the public was PROMISED service wouldn’t be affect/cut to close the budget gap. Riiiiiiight. But I was still set on riding the metro.

A few weeks ago we were pushing out a project and I had to work late every night. I decided that I would try the whole, “driving into the city” thing. The metro runs every 15-20 minutes after rush hour so if I would miss the train coming home from work late or after a Happy Hour, I would have to sit around and then sit on the metro for 30 minutes. It just makes for a long and exhausting trek home. Let me tell you, I became quite a fan of the “driving into work” thing. Traffic really wasn’t that bad in the morning and byt the time I left to go home, there was no one on the roads.

It’s pretty great to have control of the situation, as opposed to being stuck somewhere with no way out if there’s a delay. If there’s a traffic jam, I have an opportunity to take and alternate route. Not with metro. I always have a seat and can listen to the radio or use my phone when I drive… not on the metro. The metro costs me $15/day to use (that includes parking). Driving in is about 15 miles and costs $10 to park.

I kept the argument going in my head that I can pay for metro, pretax, through a program at work, so it’s more economical. But when the difference is $5/day, the difference pretty much offsets any pretax savings. The commute time is the same whether I metro or drive, so why not be comfortable in my car?

So for the month of September, I’m going to try driving in 2 days/week to start. I want to see how rush hour traffic is once school is back in session. I’m pretty certain eventually I will just drive in everyday and take the metro when I need to because honestly, there is no benefit at this point. Not when the metro continues to hike prices and offer crappy service. I am not a fan.

Is Seattle really the place to be?

The other night I get a call from a good friend who tells me she’s engaged, getting married next year, and then moving to Seattle. Seattle, really? Is that like the place to be these days or what? I tell her that with the connections we already have out there, and now with her moving out there, then we might really go.

“Seriously?!” she asks.

“Well, no, not really. But it’s a thought,” I respond.

And it is a thought – a thought that we’ve played around with for a while. I’ve wanted to live in Seattle since 5^th grade. But is it a realistic thought? Probably not. Sadly. But you never know.

We just have such a solid life here – friends, family, activities, the Hokies. The thought of leaving all this behind to move on is frankly pretty scary. On the other hand, our connections to Seattle are increasing. We have family out there already (Bruno’s sister and husband) and a few friends – good ones. So we wouldn’t be moving to a completely new life without anyone to help us.

We always have a great time when we go out west, and the thought of living there and experiencing life on the west coast is very intriguing. For one, we would have great snowboarding. The weather isn’t too horrible, maybe a bit rainy, but we definitely wouldn’t have the insane heat we have here. We would get to travel to places we haven’t experienced. I definitely think it would be a positive move.

On the other hand, we are close with our friends and family. I love my softball teams and Bruno’s bands are doing really well. We’d have to give those up. Once we have our own family, it would be tough to know our families may only spend the holidays together. However, by the time that happens my parents should be retired and have all the time in the world to come visit!

I think it’s definitely an option we consider every now and again. For now, we will be here for at least the next 3 years, since we are obligated to our condo J But I would say the door is partially open to the idea.

They say things change when you get married...

But somehow, I always thought it was a change between you and your S.O. Apparently not in my case. Of course I have felt a change between the relationship Bruno and I have. After just celebrating our 1 year anniversary, I cannot believe how fast the year went. I honestly love him more and more everyday and am very happy with where we are. But sometimes, I still cannot believe I'm married. As often as I say the words - husband, married, Mrs. de Lima-Campos - it's still so new to me. I know that will change over time, and become natural, it's already starting to.

So what are these other changes then? The ones that aren't specifically related to our marriage? Well there's 3... and they're kinda huge.

1. Running. Somehow, in the past 6 months, I've become a runner. I actually like running, and have been "competing" in races since December. I use quotations because I've only been running for fun - in the fun races. I started with the Jingle All the Way 10k, moved to the St Patty's Day 8k, ran in the Crystal City 5k... and have a few others coming down the pipe (5k this Saturday for Spinal Research and the Caribbean Sounds 10k in July) My biggest race comes at the end of September - The Ragnar Relay. This race is 193 miles, from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC taking place over a period of 24 hours. 193 miles?? No fear, we have 12 people on the team, each running (3) different legs of varying mileage. It will be a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun. There's that word again... when did I ever decide that running was fun?? It was a change...

2. Babies. I've never really WANTED a baby... ok, well yes, I've always wanted a baby, but I always pushed that to "Oh later down the road. Not right now!" And somehow, in the past 6 months, that has changed. All of the sudden, I am ready. Well, I think I am. I guess I'm more ready for the thought of a child now as opposed to down the road. It may be because I've always had some sort of timeline in my head, or because I have an awesome husband who will make a great dad, or because a lot of my friends are having babies, or maybe I'm just ready. But I go back and forth on it... my heart says I'm ready, but my mind says I'm not. I'm not ready to change our guestroom into a baby's room. I'm not ready to stop playing softball for 9+ months. I'm not ready to stop drinking for 9+ months. I'm not ready to give up snowboarding for 9+ months. But still... the feeling is there. Sure, I'd rather us live in a nice house with lots of room for a family. But that's not happening anytime soon, so we will work with what we have. Now don't get too excited, we are not having a baby for a while, but it will happen in the near future... at least before we head to Brasil in 2014! Haha.

3. Church. Yep, Church. I've been going. Consistently. And I've enjoyed it. This may be the biggest change of all. A few weeks ago I passed a new church on the way to Karen's house - The Vine. I don't know if it was the grape vines that intrigued me, but I mentioned it to Karen when I got to her place and she had been interested in the same church. So we scoped it out. It's a contemporary Methodist church and although there is a band and singing (not such a fan of the Christian music), it's not as overwhelming as others I've experience. What I get most out of these services is that the pastor, who reminds me of my brother, really relates the Bible to everyday life. Growing up Catholic, I went to church every Sunday, following through the motions and never really getting anything from the services. After going to college, I sort of dropped out of the church, feeling that if I wasn't interested in going, then I shouldn't go. And it's been that way since then... but now it's starting to turn around. I always wanted to get back into church, but really didn't know if I would find one that would actually keep me interested. Bruno and I spoke about going to church with our future children because we did want them to have some sort of religious education/understanding during their childhood. I wouldn't want to force them to go, but at the same time, I think they should have something. I also didn't want to just drop them off for Mass and pick them up in an hour. Anyhow, so far, I am really liking this church. I haven't gotten the urge to reach out and "Spread the word of the Lord" but to me, the Bible is like poetry. I don't understand it unless it is broken down, bit by bit, into words and ideas I can understand and relate to. Catholicism never did that for me. I tried a few different Catholic churches, but just couldn't get into it. This church, The Vine, breaks down the Bible and makes it interesting. Pastor Todd is funny, and relaxed, and the entire environment is just nice. It's a new, small church, so that's quite a change from the huge old church I grew up in. I don't know if this will be the church for me, for us, but so far, I'm pretty happy with it. And believe me, that is really really weird to say.

The Big 3-0

My 30th birthday is less then a year away. I'm not really freaking out about it... for now at least. It will be odd to reach the Big 3-0, but hopefully I won't panic like they do in the movies and tv. For now, I have a few plans, and just added another.

My friends and I, who have our birthday within 2 weeks of each other, have already tentatively thought about a Super Sweet 30th Birthday. We're hoping for a major bash, MTV style. In reality, that probably won't happen, but a joint birthday will for sure. For those who have celebrated with me, I tend to have a really fun bash for my birthday each year and I'm thinking the 30th bash will be the final one. It's not that I don't enjoy them... I love them for sure. But you can only have big birthday bashes for so long...

Anyhow, so that's one plan. Plan number 2, if I don't chicken out, is to get Lasik. I would just LOVE to be able to wake up in the morning and see... to go to bed without having to take my contacts out first. I've always been hesitant, because things with my eyes freak me out. But I know MANY people who have done the surgery, including my friend who's eye sight was worse then mine. Of course, I may not be eligible for the surgery, but for now, my plan is to do it. It would just be so great not to worry about that anymore...

My last plan is something new. Something that probably won't happen. A tattoo. Yeah, that's right. I've never gotten one before because I could never think of something that I loved enough to permanently put on my body. I don't have anything right now, but for some reason, I'm very interested in the thought. Where would it go? On the inside of my wrist. I understand that it would hurt like no other, another reason it probably won't happen. But I think the inside of the wrist is really great placement. It's subtle and can be hidden if necessary. But it's also a place where later in life, my skin won't sag or expand too much that it's beyond recognition. For now, this is just a thought. I figure if in a year, I'm still interested, then I'll go for it. But for all things permanent, there has to be absolute desire and confidence in it.

When I turn 30, I may be a whole new person. Well, I'll just be able to see and have ink on my skin. Close enough.

A dilemma...

Bruno and I have had a trip planned with our friends for weeks, maybe even months, to go up to Philly this coming weekend. We go up Saturday to start our weekend Cheesesteak tour. Yep, cheesesteaks. We plan on hitting up Pat's, Geno's, Tony Luka's and the Dairy Cottage. Sunday night we attend the John Mayer concert, then we come home Monday.

Here's the dilemma... I just received an email today about a meeting for my project, on Monday. From 10am to 4:30pm. What?! The meeting is to discuss schematic design. Now, my boss already knew I had this day off for vacation, but I think Monday was the only day our client could meet. What do I do??

On one hand, I've been looking forward to this weekend for so long and want to take full advantage of a fun weekend in Philly. On the other, it's my first project and from what I understand, the interiors department doesn't often get to attend meetings. Usually it's our boss who does. So it would be great to attend and really be involved in the project.

But we are staying at a B&B and it's too late to shorten our reservation. I don't want to cut our trip short, but should I? What if I do, and then the meeting doesn't even really involve me much? I just don't know the right answer here.

Ugh why did they have to plan it for Monday?!?

A little space please?

Dear Mr. Man in the Tan Wool Coat,

When sharing a bench seat on the metro, it is pretty reasonable to expect one to stay within their 18" of space, especially when you are capable to do so. When I entered the train and glanced around for a free seat, I spotted the one next to you and figured I'd have a comfortable ride. Apparently not.

Thanks to you and your need to go past the seat line (I know you were because I checked), I spent most of my ride sitting half on the seat. Luckily, I suppose, I was not limited in space by having an arm rest because I'm certain if I was, I would have one fine bruise on my thigh from being smashed up against it.

When you notice my constant shuffling, sighing (my passive aggressive way to let you know I am annoyed) and how my arm is slightly pushed across my chest because there is no room to have it next to my body, please make some sort of effort to give me some space. As a window passenger, you have more room to push yourself closer to allow more space for the aisle riders. Don't just glare at me like this is MY fault.

A little courtesy, please.

Thanks,
Slightly Bottom-Numbed Woman

Um, I guess problem solved?

So said nail clipper is cleaning out his desk, as I type. I don't know what happened, but apparently he won't be working here anymore. Looks like I won't have to speak up.........