Author: Average Jane

I know I just crowed about all of the cool clothes I got at a clothing swap earlier this week, but that didn't actually help me today when I was mining my closet for business attire to wear for some on-site client work.

My office doesn't have a dress code. It came up in a staff meeting recently and our CEO said the unofficial guideline could be summed up as, "Don't offend anyone." Then he corrected himself and said it was more along the lines of, "Don't offend lots of people."

So anything goes most of the time, but today was a rare exception. For most client visits over the years I've been able to get away with dark jeans, a nice top and shoes that aren't sneakers. For pitch meetings I've sometimes worn a jacket. Today's client, however, has a conservative dress code.

Until I started digging through my closet room, I didn't know quite what I would find. It turns out I'd ditched some of my older suits already, which was too bad because they would likely have fit now even though I'm sure they didn't at the time.

I tried on several pairs of oversized slacks that weren't going to work even with a belt. Finally I checked out a pair hidden under dry cleaner plastic and they were my current size. I had one decent suit jacket that fit, but it was missing two of its three buttons. Miraculously, I found one of the buttons that had fallen off and managed to locate the extra button that came with the jacket, still in its cellophane sleeve. Out came the sewing kit and I was that much closer to an outfit.

Then I needed a top to wear. I was pretty sure I had a sleeveless sweater shell on my clothing rack somewhere. It took a while, but I finally found it sandwiched between t-shirts. Fortunately I have a pair of comfortable Aerosole dress shoes that work with trouser socks, so pantyhose didn't need to be part of the equation.

Last but not least, I brought out my strand of real pearls because I figured this was a rare chance to wear them in a context that made sense.

My hair, well, the hair is how it is. 

I'll have to come up with a variation on the outfit for Monday, but I think I can find a blouse and jacket or sweater combo that I can pair with the same pants to make it work. After that, it's back to t-shirts, capri pants and yoga sandals—and not a moment too soon.

This morning I’m heading back to work after five days off. Five! Man, that was nice. Admittedly I worked for several hours yesterday morning, but I peeled myself away before lunchtime and limited myself to responding to a few emails after that.

On July 4th my band played at Fort Leavenworth for their Independence Day festivities. Here’s what I wore:

I had on black capri leggings underneath, along with a pair of black Chuck Taylor high-tops. I wore super bright lipstick that matched the red on the dress and I had thick black eyeliner on.

We were playing to a huge group of casually dressed families, most of whom were pretty far from the stage. Once the band was finished playing, I walked up the hill to the restroom and stood in line looking VERY out of place and getting many weird looks from women who obviously hadn’t actually been able to see the band. Finally, someone came in and said, “The band was great! I loved the songs you guys played.” Whew. See, people, I’m not a crazy clown hooker!

On Friday, I got up early to take a friend’s foster kitten in to be neutered. I also made it to a lunchtime yoga class, which was great because my feet still hurt from standing most of the previous day. I didn’t get much more accomplished than that, but I read a book, picked up the kitten from the clinic and hung out with my husband all evening once he got up.

Saturday was more productive. I made refrigerator pickles (both beet and cucumber), hummus, guacamole and black bean burgers. I even got some laundry done. My husband and I finished the day by going to see the other band that my keyboard player is in. It was at a barbecue restaurant so I treated myself to some onion rings. I ordered a beer but only drank half because now that my diet is so clean, it turns out I really don’t want alcohol anymore. 

Then came my birthday! I had plans all day long. I met up with my sister for breakfast and she gave me a new pair of Yoga Sandals to replace my old broken ones. Then we both had relaxing massages at her favorite reflexology place. After that we headed to Lawrence, Kansas to do a little shopping and meet our aunt for lunch. 

I spent the evening with my husband, starting with a trip to Cafe Gratitude for dinner. We both had the black bean tacos (which I am *this close* to learning how to make at home) and split the Key Lime Tart for dessert. Then we went to see Man of Steel, which I quite enjoyed except for the endless fight scenes that got tiresome after a while.

My company gives us the day off for our birthdays, so I took yesterday since my birthday fell on the weekend. As I said earlier, I worked all morning to get caught up a bit. Then my dad took me to lunch at Genghis Khan, which was nice. I ran errands in the afternoon, including getting my microphone fixed so I can use it at my next gig. In the evening, my husband and I had dinner at Marble Top Cafe and then loaded up on groceries at Trader Joe’s nearby.

It was really lovely to have such a long break from the office and so many other things to do. I’m refreshed and ready to get back to work today.

How was your holiday weekend?

Not to jinx myself or anything, but 2013 is turning out to be a pretty good year so far.

First of all, I feel great. I've lost about fifteen pounds since I switched to a clean, mostly plant-based diet. My asthma and allergy symptoms are pretty much gone. I still have a tiny bit of heartburn, but I imagine that will subside eventually. 

Now that I've gotten back to regular yoga classes, I feel stronger. I also took an amazing foot and ankle health workshop last weekend that really tripped some light switches in my brain and made me realize that I can retrain myself out of the postures that have been causing me pain. 

I've been cooking at home more and my husband is surprisingly amenable to trying vegetarian meals. In fact, he's picked out some recipes from various blogs and requested to try them, so that's fun because I don't have to plan every meal myself.

I absolutely made the right choice by cutting way back on volunteer work. It was making me crabby, which is the opposite effect that do-gooding is supposed to have on oneself and the world. I'm still helping out the animal rescue group as needed and I'm on the board of Soroptimist again next year, but I don't have any steady, weekly commitments.

The band is going well and we're continuing to learn fun songs. We have gigs on July 4th and 5th and another on the 13th. I have a feeling we'll be stepping up that schedule even more once we get comfortable with our show.

I'm still not spending quite as much time at home as I'd like, so my housekeeping standards remain a little looser than I'd prefer, but I'm hoping that the upcoming holiday weekend might give me a chance to catch up.

I'd also like to get in more long stretches of reading time that weekend. Right now I'm re-reading all of the Oz books, which I bought for 99¢. I'd forgotten how violent the first book is—the wicked witch keeps sicking various minions on our heroes, who proceed to slaughter them wholesale. As the book series progresses, all of the characters get less crabby and quarrelsome and eventually L. Frank Baum decided that no one could die in Oz, so that took care of the casual killing. If you haven't read them, I highly recommend it. I am highlighting passages I particularly enjoyed and I may do a post later.

The pets are all doing relatively well. My husband is convinced that Xena has lost some weight, but I'm a little skeptical about that. Everyone else seems happy and healthy and relatively well behaved.

So that's my report at the halfway point of the year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps getting better and better—and that the universe doesn't decide to snuff me out in the service of delicious irony right after I publish this. That wouldn't be nice at all.

Scene: I am lying in bed with Toby the Italian Greyhound curled up against my right side under the blankets, huge black cat Xena on my torso and smaller black cat Velvet above my head on my pillow. I hear lightning really close to the house. Here is my internal monologue.

Please don't let Toby wake up! There's no way it's safe to take him out in this. I hope I'm safe in here. I read that interview last week with the guy who was struck by lightning sitting in his office. I'm right by a window, too. Was his window open or closed? I wonder if it matters? Would the drape over the window save me? Probably not. If I did get struck by lightning, it would get the pets, too. That would be bad. Should I shut the window? No, that would wake the dog up. And get me closer to the window, and that's what the lightning wants, isn't it? It would suck to get hit by lightning while I'm touching the metal window frame to close it. Ooh, that was close! I'll bet my hair is frizzy from all this humidity. At least it's nice and warm with the blankets and all the animals. Zzzz…

Afterword: It stopped raining eventually, I managed to take the dog out twice, and everyone lived.

Photo credit: Daniel Vucsko