the pieces of my life

Okay, I’m not just packed, I’m overpacked. Off to the market and then hittin’ the road. Bye everyone!

And still unpacked. Only this time, my tummy isn’t feeling so well…

I’m still not packed.

The past 48 hours have been a blur of weepiness and nausea. Yesterday I almost made it through the day tearless until Beth P. came by to reminisce about the old days, which set me off, which set her off, which set me off more. Couldn’t stop. But a day of a facial, shopping, and not packing had me feeling a lot better… until Tatonka tonight.

My Last Day

At 1 p.m. I turned in my computer. You never feel quite as lost as you do when you’re computerless at Amazon. I sent out my good-bye note in the morning, and got lots of nice responses, including one from Jeff that said, “Jenny, thanks for being a big part of our adventure!!” Corny as it is, I was pretty pleased with that. Leaving was pretty tough–it may not have been the best place all of the time, but it was definitely a wild ride and it certainly took over my life for the past 4 1/4 years. It’s hard to let go.

Tatonka

The wing eating contest. To quote the contest rules:

“Background — Our fearless Tatonka leader, Andy ‘The Shadow’ Jassy, has been convening Tatonka buffalo wing eating events on the first Tuesday of every month since 1997 (earlier?), providing us with a place to eat, drink and be very merry. At these events, bold individuals have, of course, challenged the limits of stomach capacity for personal glory, and gluttony. First, Derrick ‘Super-D’ Cherry, claimed the throne with a 40-wing effort, although his later efforts put this feat in doubt. In order to resolve all controversy, Scott ‘Before Body For Life’ Kurttila and Dave ‘I really need to go on a diet this time’ Schappell put down 50, to put the record at a place that they thought few would ever approach. However, like all records, Mr. Polenz downed 54, a record that still stands today.Now, it is time for that record to fall. And, fall it will.”

I, of course, am never one to let a trash-talking moment pass, so I claimed victory for myself and for my team. Our odds:

— 11:1 Odds – Jenny Brown & Matt Neglay

— Pros: Jenny is top contender for the ‘hottest wing’ throne, and is an avid trash-talker

Our first ‘mixed team’

They’ve actually asked to be named after a horse… the ‘War Emblem’ of Tatonka

— Cons: Some members of this team are driving cross-country 12 hours after the competition – we think that the trip will come into play when the going gets tough

— Quote from Team “6/18 is Jenny’s final day with Amazon. That combined with my total lack of self respect means we have nothing to lose in terms of semi-public humiliation. We believe this in conjunction with the misplaced arrogance on our competitor’s part will lead to our triumph in at least 2 categories….”

“I notice that team butt face—I mean butt dance—requested a separate title for the ladies. If they can’t handle the heat, that’s fine for them. But let me state for the record that I have no doubt that my wing numbers *alone* will beat their team numbers. So Matt and I will not only be going for the overall records, I, personally, will also be going for the ladies title.”

My talk got so bad that Team “Los Gatos Locos” stated as their “clear objective: Shut Jenny Brown’s ENORMOUS pie-hole.”

I’m happy to say they did not succeed. True, I did not win tonight’s contest. But I beat the over/under (Guy had me pegged at fewer than 30), and I beat 80% of the guys there. Grand total: 45 chicken wings. Final result: bleah! My competitive spirit has completely done me in this time. Let it be known I also beat my own teammate, who probably had 100 pounds on me. And I will never again eat a chicken wing. Marathon training doubles now!

Last day. Should feel way more elated, but I’m already worrying about house hunting, job interviews (or lack thereof), and packing for the drive cross-country. Today feels almost anti-climactic. We’ll see. I turn in my computer at 1 p.m., so while I still have a meeting this afternoon, I’ll be more or less work-free by afternoon. Surreal…

The Move

My favorite question, already asked twice this morning (and it’s not even 9 a.m.), is “Are you almost packed?” While the answer we give is “Not quite,” the real answer is “Haven’t even started yet.” I figure nothing’s happening before my first trip to Boston, but we’ll pack like madmen the week and a half we’re back before the movers come. Really don’t have a lot of choice, actually, in the matter.

Quote of the day: “I’m not being difficult, I’m being helpful.” –Carol K. Brown

Running

So my official time for the Race for the Cure is a little slower than I had (as I said, it took me 20 seconds to cross the start line), but it was absolutely my best race time ever. I completed the 5k in 27 minutes, which gave me a 8:41 minutes a mile pace. I came in 258 out of 1047, which is, I think, the first time I was ever in the top quarter of a race. In my age range (30 to 34) I was 45 out of 171. Unfortunately, I’ve been under the weather all week (running a fever last night), so I haven’t been training. I’ll get back into it this weekend.

Work

I know you can’t see me doing it, but right now I’m performing the “I’ve only got four more days of work” dance. There’s even a song that goes with it.

Annoying thing about sharing an office: The minute I hit “publish” on my web log, I always turn around and see Adam loading my page to see what I’ve written.

Six more day of waking up and going into an office. Yikes, that feels short. And yet, next week still feels far away. I know there are folks I won’t see for a while–if ever–again, yet it doesn’t feel real. I have about three more weeks left in Seattle. Period.

Running

Got the results from the Beat the Bridge run. I did the 8k in 45:16, which comes out to 9:07 miles. I’m having issues with my running–I’m bored with my routes (one way in which I’m really looking forward to Boston–all new runs!), but worse than that, after my long runs, I’m beat. Sunday is my long run day, which means I’m pretty much guaranteed to spend Sunday afternoon asleep on the couch. Yesterday, I ran just over 14 miles, with two big hills, and I fell asleep for a good hour when I got back (okay, hour and a half). I check compulsively every day to see if they’ve announced the date of the drawing for the New York Marathon. If I don’t get a number, I have some back-up marathons in mind, including Baltimore, Providence, Richmond, Maine, and Cape Cod. While Baltimore is certainly not the most exciting sounding, it does sound like a beginner’s marathon, which is what I’m looking for. A lot of the courses close to support (water, Gatorade, Power Bars) after about 5 1/2 hours. While I’d like to think I could run a marathon in 12-minute miles, I’m not sure I could and I feel more confident with a race that stays open for 7 hours. Of course, there’s always the marathon in Dublin… Eugene suggested the Chicago marathon, but I’d only do it if he actually did it. Honestly, while New York would be the coolest to do, I just want to do a marathon this year. Can be any marathon.

Flicks

Saw two more SIFF films and one anti-SIFF film. The two SIFF films were The Last Kiss and Mostly Martha. Kiss was another “relationships are doomed, and man and woman can never be truly happy together,” but it was at least enjoyable. Martha was a bit cliche for me–neurotic woman’s sister is killed and neurotic woman has to take care of her niece. It was cute, but nothing new. Finally, Undercover Brother was fantastic. That one is solid!

Clothes

Okay, so I broke down and went shopping. Even worse, I used a personal shopper… and I loved it! I don’t own a single nice summer outfit (after eight years in Seattle, who needs nice clothes, never mind nice summer clothes!). I have about a 1/2 hour tolerance for shopping. But using the personal shopper was fabu! I made an appointment, told her I was looking for interview/work clothes for the East Coast, she asked me some questions about my tastes, I leafed through a magazine, and voila, she reappears with a handful of clothes. I didn’t have to venture in the store at all. And she completely satisfied my request for Geranimals for grown-ups. Three bottoms, four tops, and they all go together. Yeah, Nordstrom! But even more importantly, yeah half yearly sale and yeah house discount! Got to go back before Adam leaves his job there.

Ab Fab

Oh, my interview with Jennifer Saunders was finally posted.

Not of the Heart

There was an eclipse this evening. I looked right at it. Not blind, yet!

Married Life

Tomorrow’s Tuesday, which mean it’s Susan Stamberg’s next installment on the Living Single on NPR. It’s so odd to listen to and to keep reading Bridget Jones-type books, because I still completely and totally 100% relate to the single-gal mind set. It’s almost like I forget I’m married sometimes. It’s not that I’m checking out guys, but I still think of myself as the chronically dating commitment-phobe. Married life is great, but it’s hard for me to associate myself with what I think of as “married.”

Leafing through Adam’s HBS survival book, I was horrified at the piece by a female partner (from “A Female Partner’s Perspective”: “Another soucrce of your HBS friendships will be your spouse’s section. The section provides a nice, small neighborhood of partners, many of whom may have a similar schedule to yours. Ask a section parter to join you for an after-work jog arund the Charles River…. Several couples I know scheduled a ‘date night’ every couple of weeks.”). I wanted to scream, “I’m not a corporate-wife-in-training!” How much better did I relate to the “A Male Partner’s Perpective,” especially the part that read, “She had flirted with the idea of going to Columbia or INSEAD, but, in the end, we both knew that getting accepted by HBS meant she was going there. In addition, we both knew that there was no chance that I was going to be going with her. Besides my dislike of Boston (sorry folks–they asked me to be honest), I work at MTV, so I really had to stay in New York.” Umm, hello? I’m the free-spirit who’s dream is to travel from Istanbul to South Africa…over land. Sigh. Now, I’m going to “agree to meet a group of partners at Shad, or plan partner movie nights and dinner outings.” At the dentist today (need to use up all my insurance while I still had it), the hygenist asked me why I was moving to Boston. “My husband got into Harvard Business School.” “Oh, and you’re being the faithful wife.” Okay, so I often say, “the dutiful wife,” when questioned about the move, but there was no irony in her voice, at all! Never has anyone said that line to me straight. Yuck!

I just realized that it’s seriously past my bedtime. I’ll have to continue my married-lady rant another day.