Square Life Round World

I'm navigating through this round world while living a square life, and it fits exactly as it should.

Sep 19

Things That Won

by Melanie Adams

I have had a week and a half, people. The week totally and completely beat me. Without a doubt, I can say the battle between the week and me was won by the week. That doesn’t happen often. As I sit here pondering my game plan for next week’s counter-attack, I’m reminded of a few other things that won this week as well.  

I did not win this week, so, Sadness!

The return of football is winning, for sure! While much of my news feeds are celebrating the return of the PSL (that’s Starbucks speak for Pumpkin Spice Latte), I’m loving that football is back. All is right with the world, or at least my TV.  

Speaking of football, the Denver Broncos won this week. I’ve loved Peyton Manning since his days as a UT Vol. His season has started out as rocky as the mountains that surround his home field, but this week Peyton showed up and silenced his haters.  

Go Broncos! (photo credit: Denver Broncos)


My dog won. She got to see her grandparents twice this week. She loves her grandparents. She’s the queen of the house when they come to visit. Let’s face it. She’s the queen of the house all the time. She always wins.  

Jasmine always wins.


Finally, my dad won. My lawnmower died last week. I was ready to lay it to rest, but my dad was not. He and my mom came down on Monday to pick it up. I was fully prepared to spend my weekend lawnmower shopping. Can we say, snoozefest? However, my dad truly is the best. For about the 4th time in the last 10 years, he brought the thing back to life.  

Dad of the Year

So, no lawnmower shopping for me this weekend. That will free up my time for football while snuggling with my pup. Who’s winning now? 

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Sep 7

Back to the Blog

by Melanie Adams

Hey, everyone!  Remember me?  I just looked back and saw that I haven’t posted in, oh about 10 months.  Oops!  So, what have I been up to?  I have been through a life-changing event, which has been the subject of the majority of my focus.  More on that later.  I’ve been doing a few other things, too, though.

Since my last update, I finished the 2014 St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon.

I finished! It wasn't pretty but I finished!

I finished! It wasn’t pretty but I finished!

That deserves its own post.  The stories around that day are many.  I also finished a quilt for a friend,

Minecraft Quilt for a Friend

Minecraft Quilt for a Friend

had a December staycation,

Oshi Burger as part of my December staycation

Oshi Burger as part of my December staycation

celebrated Christmas with my family, quit my job (insert major life event), started my dream job

My first day on my new job

My first day on my new job

(reality is even better than the dream), registered for the 2015 St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon, spent time at Magic Kingdom Park with some girl friends,

Magic Kingdom before the family cruise

Magic Kingdom before the family cruise

tried out the new Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto at Disney’s Polynesian Resort,

Yes, I kept the glass!

Yes, I kept the glass!

went on my 3rd Disney cruise with my family aboard the Disney Fantasy (that deserves its own post, too, several of them, in fact),

Disney Fantasy docked at Castaway Cay

Disney Fantasy docked at Castaway Cay

registered for the Memphis Runners Track Club Road Race Series and registered for the 2016 runDisney Princess Half Marathon.  Oh!  And I’m on Periscope now, too.  I’m @myglasssneaker, same as Twitter.  I haven’t done much videoing yet, but that will change soon.

What have I not been up to?  Well, I haven’t done a ton of running.  This is a bad thing considering my upcoming race schedule.  I did complete the 2nd 5k

This was my first official race of the year.

This was my first official race of the year.

and the first 5 miler

Aaaaaand...my 2nd official race of the year

Aaaaaand…my 2nd official race of the year

in the Road Race Series, though.  The first 10k is coming up in less than a week.  The jury is out as to whether I am going to attempt it or wait until the 2nd 10k.  The reason (or excuse) for the struggle deserves its own post, too.

Based on the list above, it looks like I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.  Please hang in there with me.

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Oct 1

Take a Lunchcation

by Melanie Adams

Everyone knows what vacations are.  Now we also have runcations, which are basically just destination races, staycations, which are taking a few days off but staying home, and daycations, which are when you take a trip somewhere but don’t spend the night.  I have a new one for you: lunchcations.

I love to travel.  If I don’t have a trip planned, it’s pretty safe to say I have wanderlust and am thinking about planning my next trip.  Sometimes that’s just not enough.  Sometimes, I need a break, like, NOW!!!  This is pretty common in the fall.  Oftentimes summer vacations are just a memory, and spring vacations are only a dream.  So, for pretty much all of my professional life, I’ve taken lunchcations from time-to-time.  A lunchcation is a one hour break from work that leaves you feeling refreshed and energized.

I can hear you now saying, “Wait a minute!  I get a one hour lunch break everyday.  What’s so special about that?”  Yes, you get a lunch break, but is it a lunchcation?  When is the last time you came back from your lunch break feeling refreshed, energized, and eager to tackle the rest of your day and week?

Most of us take our lunch breaks and either eat at our desk while catching up on emails, run errands, eat fast food in our cars, or the like.  A lunchcation is more than that.  It’s taking that hour and truly emersing yourself in a vacation-like experience that leaves you feeling de-stressed, lighter, happier, just like you would if you had taken an actual vacation.  But how?

Here are a few ideas to get you started on your own lunchcation.

  • Get a massage.  I don’t know about you but a massage is a real treat for me.  It is something I typically only indulge in when I’m on vacation.  However, there are so many massage franchises around that it’s not hard to find a quick, inexpensive one.  I’ve seen packages as short as 30 minutes, the perfect length for a lunchcation.  Make sure you grab that cucumber water on your way out so you can extend the experience all the way back to your office.
  • Dine at a local, chef-driven restaurant.  Most metro areas have them.  This is not your chain restaurant.  I’m talking locally-owned, often offering seasonal, farm-to-table cuisine.  You might think of this as your special occasion restaurant, for anniversaries and birthdays.  It’s also an ideal destination for your lunchcation.  These types of places often have lunch menus featuring smaller, more affordable portions.  You’ll go back to the office feeling like you’ve been somewhere special, because you have.
  • Read a book in a coffee shop.  Books aren’t just for the beach, you know.  Reading can be relaxing and good for the soul!  Redirecting your thoughts away from work, even for just an hour, can be surprisingly freeing.  It’s the stuff great lunchcations are made of!  Lots of coffee shops are even offering artisanal sandwiches to go along with their brews now, too.  You have to eat, right?
  • Have coffee in a book store.  All of the same from above applies here, too.  Sure, these mega book stores have thinned out with the growing success of certain mega websites but there are a few around still, and many of them offer a great café-style lunch, too, perfect for a lunchcation.  Fruit tea anyone?
  • Splurge on dessert.  You treat your kids to their faves when they stay green for the whole week, get all As, and clean their room.  You juggle your company’s budget, your kids’ carpool, and your husband’s meeting schedule.  Buy yourself a cupcake, for crying out loud!  I don’t mean one from your grocery counter, either.  I know you have one of those specialty bakeries somewhere near you.  Go!  Get one! And savor every last crumb!  After all, you are on lunchcation!
  • Get a mani/pedi.  There is little in life that makes me feel like I’m on vacation more than a mani/pedi.  With all those pop-up nail places on every corner, a mani/pedi lunchcation is more feasible than ever before.  As long as you are making it a lunchcation, spring for the sea salt rub, too!

The best part about lunchcations is that you can take them at any time, as often as you want, with little to no planning.  Give them a try!  See how much easier they will make your afternoon tasks.

Share your lunchcation ideas in the comments.

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Jul 25

Homeownership–When Things Go Wrong

by Melanie Adams

Have you heard the saying that bad things come in threes?  I think I’m on about 23 right now.  That’s an exaggeration but nonetheless Murphy’s Law seems to be holding high court at my house these days.  Here’s my list of things that have been broken recently:

  • Garbage Disposal
  • Garage Door
  • Washing Machine
  • Air Conditioning
  • Plumbing

The washing machine, air conditioning, and plumbing all happened the same week.  Lucky for me, my dad was fairly confident he could fix my washing machine and garage door.  However, when he was at my house working on them, all of my plumbing completely failed without warning.  I was washing my hands and all of a sudden I heard the dreaded glop, glop, glop of the toilet.  I didn’t even own a plunger so that was the first order of business.  After purchasing one, I plunged every single thing in my house I could possibly plunge, to no avail.  All it seemed to be doing was moving water from the toilets to the bath tubs and shower and back to the toilets.  Of course this was on a Saturday.  Luckily I was able to get a plumber to come by and thought a couple hundred dollars later I’d be back in business.  Yeah, not!  Instead, they found mud in my lines.  Mud!  Apparently this is indicative of a line break so guess what!?  My yard and part of my driveway had to be dug up to get to the break and fix it, and my visions of it only costing a couple hundred dollars flew out the window.

Here's part of the culprit--a huge hole in a pipe. Yes, I said part of the culprit. There were other breaks.

Here’s part of the culprit–a huge hole in a pipe. Yes, I said part of the culprit. There were other breaks.

The day the plumbers came to dig the hole and fix it, my air still wasn’t working so I called the HVAC company in to take a look at that, too.  Thankfully, that was a fairly simple fix (fingers crossed it sticks).  After about 8 hours of some serious hard digging, sawing, and fixing, my plumbing was working again, too. 

A big hole in my yard and driveway. Sadness!

A big hole in my yard and driveway.  This was actually just the beginning.  The final hole was about quadruple this.  Sadness!

Oh, and one of the plumbers took about 15 seconds to show me something on my garbage disposal called a reset button.  I kind of wish I had a reset button for myself, too.

Do you ever feel like everything is falling apart?  Tell me about it in the comments.

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Jul 12

Things That Got My Attention

by Melanie Adams

Let’s face it.  We are all busy people.  We lead busy lives.  Everywhere we turn, something or someone is trying to get our attention.  For the most part, it’s past the point of sensory overload for me.  Now more than ever, between all the many ways for brands to get my attention and people to get in touch with me, I feel like I’m constantly being pulled in so many different directions.  It’s almost like I’m becoming numb to it, which makes it even harder to really GET my attention and almost impossible to KEEP my attention.  That being said, every now and then, something grabs me and makes me stop and take note.  Here are a few things lately that have done that.

  • New Diet Coke Cans–Diet Coke is a major guilty pleasure of mine.  Yes, I know soda of any kind is bad for you and artificial sweeteners are poison.  Yet, I still drink a Diet Coke daily.  I honestly couldn’t care less about what it comes in, but the new cans!  They have me completely entertained.  I was very much “meh” over the new personalized bottles when I saw they didn’t make my name.  No big deal!  I’m used to it.  However, the day I opened my new 12 pack and saw the generic phrases on the cans, a friend of mine was having surgery.  The first can I pulled out had “Friend” on it, and of course I thought of her.
    New Diet Coke cans

    New Diet Coke cans

    Now every can I pull out makes me think of someone special in my life and it’s a moment of happy to go along with my Diet Coke.  Well done, Diet Coke!

  • OPI Makes House Paint–This one blew my mind!  Remember how I said I’m becoming numb to all the many things going on around me?  That includes what’s on TV most of the time.  Then I saw ACE Hardware and OPI in the same 30 second snippet of time and did a double take!  Well, I had no idea what the actual message was but I saw enough to realize OPI, a company famous for not just its professional quality nail polish in more than a rainbow of fun colors, but also its super fun and creative names for the colors, has tossed its hat into the home decorating ring with a brand new line of paint colors through its partnership with Clark and Kensington.
    Source: clarkandkinsington.com

    Source: clarkandkinsington.com

    Now, you, too, can paint your dining room in Chick Flick Cherry.  I admit I have never set foot in an ACE Hardware store, but now I want to!  Well played, ACE and OPI, well played!

  • Big Brother–Those who know me well know I’m a huge Big Brother fan.
    Source: CBS

    Source: CBS

    I’m talking about the CBS reality show here.  Yet lately, even my favorites aren’t grabbing me like they used to.  Big Brother is the exception.  It is so well cast this season!  Between Frankie, the pink-haired Broadway dancer with the pop star sister, and Donny, the bearded country bumpkin who toasted to pretty colors and high-definition on day 1, I cannot stop watching!  Even better, the house guests are all wearing Fit Bits this year so we can track their physical activities!  Fit Bits!  Nice job, CBS.

  • PiYo–This is the new, latest and greatest exercise DVD set from Beachbody.  No fewer than a dozen of my Facebook friends are Beachbody coaches.  You’ve heard of Beachbody, I’m sure.  It’s the pyramid up line style company that markets several hot workout programs that promise to turn even the starchiest couch potato into a swimsuit model, especially when paired with the REAL product they want to sell, their Shakeology meal replacement shakes.  Well, they recently had their coach’s summit in Las Vegas, and debuted PiYo, a cross between Pilates and Yoga, neither of which I’ve ever done.
    Source: Beachbody

    Source: Beachbody

    I still am not sold on Shakeology but PiYo totally caught my attention.  I haven’t bought it yet, and really have no immediate plans to, but it’s definitely on my radar.  I’ve been dabbling in T25, another of Beachbody’s plans, so maybe I’ll give PiYo a try later in the year.

  • Lightning–Yes, I’m talking about the electric bolts generated by thunderstorms.  I’ve lived in the south my entire life, and I’m no stranger to a thunderstorm.  This makes it easy to overlook them, even when the weather people send out warnings of doom and gloom.  Lately I’ve been hearing stories that make me see lightning in a new, well, light.  Just this week, two homes in my suburb caught on fire from being struck by lightning.  Someone else I know of had her car struck by lightning in a parking lot.  Her car!  I didn’t think that was supposed to happen.  Still another story of a kid being killed by a lightning strike just walking across the yard gives me a new respect for this thing that gave us electricity.  So, yeah, I’ll pay more attention to it from now on, for a little while anyway.

With everything going on around me, it’s a wonder that anything catches my attention these days, but these things certainly have.  What’s something that has your attention lately?  Tell me in the comments.

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