And Then There's Halloween

Coworkers in Full Regalia

Traditionally, Halloween is one of those holidays that most Introverts find a little trying.   It is nice to see all of the costumes and the creativity, but imagine for a moment all of the door-bell ringing, knocking, and otherwise unplanned little bouts of social interaction involved in trick-or-treating.  It's enough to drive a sane Introvert to distraction.   So I always have a game plan.  Last year, it was to make the most of the technology in our family room while waiting for trick-or-treaters to come visiting.  There are plenty of Halloween-appropriate movies that aren't too gory or scary, so I was all set. 

This year, I've invited a friend to come 'round so that we can be Introverted together.  I know that sounds funny.  But sometimes solidarity saves the Social aspect of things.  We can look at all of the funny costumes, give out candy, and absorb the Social together (dividing and conquering!).  Since Romeyn plans to be home as well, and we may or may not have my younger stepson around depending on his plans, the Social aspect might just lose most of its impact altogether!  Everyone involved in this plan is good with parallel play (the bastion of Introverted social-time).

Happy Halloween to Everyone!  Enjoy (but don't overdo) your social time tonight.

And Then There's Voting

Today, Potsdam is voting on the potential merger of Potsdam Central Schools with Canton Central Schools.  I personally regard voting as a civic duty.  However, I've never been a big fan of the process by which we vote. 

As an Introvert, the idea of crowding into a little office space or auditorium to stand in line, sign my name, and then vote while someone waits behind or beside me is a terrible one.  No pressure here, Ma'am!  Just vote and be on your way so the rest of us can do it.  By the way, don't mind the crowding.

I'm actually quite ecstatic about the crowding, purely from the standpoint of getting a good turnout on voting days.  However, I'd be happier (and perhaps even vote differently) if I could vote from the comfort of my own home.

Don't forget to vote, Potsdam!

Mourning the Class

As an Introvert, I should be grateful that no one came to the second section of my class last night.  It provided closure for me.  However, I'm just going to say it:  That was horrible.   The empty classroom, realizing that the amp had not even been left there for my class, and realizing that the amp was moot since no one was going to show up (after waiting until 4:40PM, a good 25 minutes after the posted start time). 

Sometimes, silence is the exact opposite of what you need to recuperate. 

Sweet Sounds of Silence

For the first time in over a month, we have nothing planned for the coming weekend.  Since it is going to be Halloween on Friday, I anticipate that we'll need to be somewhat social for a few hours of the evening.  However, having nothing planned is a load off of my mind. 

The impending possibility of Nothing for the weekend makes this week seem like a piece of cake--or pie.  (I prefer pie.)  And it's a great filler weekend to cleanse the palate prior to making a special trip in a few weeks' time to hang out with family again and to see an old friend from my graduate school. 


I have loved hosting my parents and having my in-laws, other assorted family members, and Kyle's gaggle of friends over to celebrate Kyle's foray into the wild world of Being Seventeen.  By the time the party was over, I was napping away and my family (bless their hearts) let me Sleep Off the Social aspects of the day (yay, SOS-time!).  I really needed my SOS time.  I awoke refreshed and happy, and made dinner.  We chilled out with the kitties and watched Aaron Sorkin's work. 

I am grateful to my family for the SOS time.  Further, I'm so grateful to my friends for being so sensitive to my need to Disappear sometimes.  There is comfort in silence, and it makes me appreciate everyone so much more when I have time to just Exist in the silence.

Come to Zumba Fitness!

I've got a stay of execution on my Zumba Fitness Class pending final enrollment count as of Tuesday night.  So here is my plan---I am reaching out today to ask *anyone* who is interested in taking my class to attend on Tuesday at 4:15PM at the SUNY Potsdam Merritt Hall Dance Studio on the third floor.  If you haven't signed up on the CLEAR website, don't worry about it.  I'm trying to gauge interest and viability.  Come on Tuesday, take the class and tell me afterwards if you plan to sign up and keep coming to class.

If you're worried about taking advantage of this offer, don't be worried at all.  If you attend and decide not to sign up after taking the Tuesday class, you can help me out by giving me feedback (of any kind) about the reason for your choice.  Either way, both of us will benefit from the experience.

Thank you in advance to Bloggers and Facebookers, colleagues, and friends.

Mild Disappointment, But Not Defeat

I experienced a pretty depressing setback in the whole Zumba Fitness department this week.   I don't have enough people signed up for the second session (starting Oct 28) of my class this Fall 2014 semester.   I have been contacted about potentially cancelling the session.  I am conflicted about it.

I am willing to teach Zumba on a volunteer basis (low enrollment impacts the ability for the non-credit parent organization to pay for my services), but it is disheartening that so few wish to continue with the course.  The feedback I have actually received gave me the impression that my course is enjoyable and very energetic.  The only potential negative feedback I've received to date is that my class starts a bit on the early side (4:15PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

I'm open to additional feedback, and I'm not giving up on this dream.  I love to dance, and I love Zumba Fitness.  I may, however, need to consider some changes in my overall approach to the dream. 

Meanwhile...

I am in the midst of one of my most social weeks of the year, even rivaling that of Christmas through The New Year.  I won't lie, it is a challenge.  So far, however, I'm loving most of it!

Saturday to Saturday---this is what my week has looked like and will look like going forward:

Last Saturday:  Open House.  Over a hundred students, family members, and coworkers gathered to share the best stuff about SUNY Potsdam.

Sunday: A one-hour workout at Shaul, followed by dinner and a movie with the family and my friend Donna.

Monday: Serious cleaning of the entire house, which involved many small trips to crowded hardware stores.

Tuesday:  My on-duty day (one of two) at work, which involved many financial aid counseling sessions with some of my favorite students.  Right after work, I taught Zumba to a small class for one hour.  Almost directly after that, Romeyn and I headed to The Lions Club for my induction ceremony (which was also a Zone Lions Club meeting as well as a regular Potsdam Lions Club meeting).

Wednesday: My younger stepson's birthday!  This also involves forays into crowded establishments.  There are a few Traditions that we like to keep alive on Kyle's actual birthday each year.

Thursday:  This will be my second of two on-duty days at work this week.   I'll have my Zumba Fitness practice, and then we'll head to an open house for a dual enrollment program that Kyle is attending this year.  Somewhere in there, Romeyn and I will stop for food.

Friday:  My parents arrive!  Yay!!!  Wine, cheese, talking, books, talking, and more talking.  I love my parents.  :)

Saturday:  Kyle's birthday party, the count for which is already at/around ~15+ individuals between my parents, my in laws, us, and Kyle's peeps.  Thereafter, we have the option to go to a show in which one of our family members is a star!  (Yay, Jeannie!)

There is a lot to celebrate this week.  As you can see, this is truly one of my most social weeks of the year.   As a coping mechanism and in preparation for the days to come, I have been taking Introvert Standard Time in the mornings.  I'm mid-way through an Elizabeth George novel, and my kitties couldn't be happier about it!  Lots of lap time helps the Introvert as well as the cats.  Have an excellent week, all! 

Book Tantrum

My inner child is about six years old when it comes to my Reading Time.  My husband can attest to this.  When we're working in the same room but he's doing something like surfing Facebook or reading a great book he wants to share (i.e., wants to share funny tidbits every few minutes) and I'm reading my books...I get really testy.  I've been known to Harrumph, Grumble, Growl and Sigh, all while curling protectively around my latest literary treat.  My poor beleaguered husband finally gives up after about five or ten tries to get me to laugh about the latest in-joke, kisses me on the head, and lets me be.

Books are Introvert crack.  We can't get enough time reading to ourselves, whether it be from a physical book, magazine, newspaper, or e-reader.   Entire galaxies and new/interesting facts await us!  It isn't that we don't want to interact at all...it's just that reading is sacred!

As an Introvert, I don't always want to share my latest find.  First of all, I'm not always reading high-brow material.  Sometimes it's literature..and sometimes it's good old fashioned pulp fiction with a gratuitous bent!  I don't really want to let the entire internet (including friends of friends and oh yeah, my stepsons, niece, and nephew) know the exact copy of that stuff that I'm reading.  In the words of my younger stepson (a fellow Introvert), "that's creepy."

I'm not alone in my book-mania, and I love that.   Introverts don't corner the market on this by any means...plenty of Extroverts seem fond of Reading Time.  With that in mind, I'm certain I observe more sharing of what is read from Extroverts (whereas we Introverts hoard our words to ourselves). 

Frankly, I'm a bit of a Gollum about my books.  I've been known to throw the occasional Book Tantrum over the Precious.  We wants it.  We wants the Precious.  Now leave us alone with Precious.  PRECIOUS!

The Super-Mini Office Survival Kit

The Super-Mini Office Survival Kit:

I've discussed the merits of having survival kits on visits with friends and family, and the merits of keeping a bit of a mini-kit in one's purse or man-bag.  For your reading pleasure, I now present The Super-Mini Office Survival Kit:

First of all, there should always be a small space in your office drawer/s for inappropriate foods.  You don't want a huge space for this, but at least reserve a corner for packets/k-cups/bags to make your favorite beverage.  My personal favorites for other inappropriate foods are as follows:  A few hard candies, chewing gum, and occasionally a packet of Lorna Doones.

Secondly, either keep an e-reader in your bag/car/desk, or a small paper ("real") book.  You never know when you're going to have to carpool somewhere for a meeting, and it's always good to have these for emergency-alone-time during lunch.

Finally, a blanket in a bag.  These can be found in super-small bags for emergency warmth and comfort.  Here's a good one---and bear in mind that when they fold up into "totes" you can actually keep some stuff in them (like a tiny book and some inappropriate food):  http://www.coleman.com/product/all-outdoorstrade-3-in-1-blanket/2000012444#.VD5v_hYZnB8

Beautiful Dreamers

We are on the last day of a conference about music and dance in the Adirondacks.  It's been a wonderful journey of dulcimers, guitar, dance, and song. Everyone here is so open and friendly!  I've had a lovely weekend, and I'm ready to go home.  

You see, as lovely as this experience has been, my inner Introvert is dog-tired and cranky.  Most of my family and friends can easily tell when I've had enough social time and need to go Cave It Up.   However, I'm a bit timid about showing this fact to new acquaintances.  

Sometimes, a well-meaning Extrovert will notice that something is off and get concerned.  I take it as a sign of kindness.  But the extra attention actually achieves the opposite effect of that which was intended...creating a cycle of social attention and Introverted unhappiness. 

Please, never take it personally when an Introvert wants to leave the party.  It's a wonderful party, full of beautiful dreamers.  Your Introvert simply needs to recharge.  

Sometimes, Zumba Fitness Instruction is Just Plain Awesome

A few of my favorite students were the only attendees at last night's Zumba course (hosted by yours truly).  We had a ball. We wore belly dancing scarves and danced like we meant it.   I've discovered that I like a smaller class...not just because I'm an Introvert.  I like a smaller class because it changes the dynamics.  Students feel freer to ask questions and request demonstrations/break-downs of steps.  They can request what they like without having the idea shot down by other students (yes, this happens).   I aimed for the timing/days of my class with a goal of getting the shyer folks to come out right after work, when we ladies/gents of a certain age are ready to dance.  It worked.

When I have a larger class, I still have fun.  I go home exhausted either way, and the work-out is awesome for busting stress.  But I still feel happier with my favorite students, having a ball and hamming it up a little. 

The Introvert and The Plan

I just had an amazing meeting with The Potsdam Lions Club.  We were on-time (early, even!), we were on-point (lots of spirited debate about relevant issues and ideas), and we had an amazing venue (the second floor of the BTB in town--opulent, and huge).

Introverts usually don't get that lucky with meetings...the main issue is increased social interaction, with variable relevance of topics, in an enclosed (and filled) space.

One of the reasons I have limited patience for meetings (in general, no specific brand/type/kind) is that we spend so much time planning.  But we don't just plan.  We plan to have plans.  We discuss the specific methods by which we can plan our plans.  All of this maximizes face time with other people, and exhausts an Introvert to the point of distraction.  Which...well...isn't conducive to planning.  I am a Doer from a long line of Doers.  Don't get me wrong---I understand the need for meetings, and the need for common procedures.  Without limitations and expectations, planning would never lead to a good plan for Doing.  However, the sheer volume of time spent on the plan to Plan to Do is what drives my inner Introvert absolutely bonkers.  I'm fairly certain I'm not alone in feeling this way.

The love-hate relationship between the Introvert and the Plan involves logistics other people don't usually have to consider.  The hours spent in debate aren't uncomfortable because of the debating.  They are uncomfortable because the ratio of area of the meeting room to the number of people in the meeting is undesirable (with very few exceptions). We prefer to meet in open spaces and to minimize the time spent in meeting in order to get to the activities we know we still need to do.

Be kind to your Introverts in the workforce.  Keep the meetings on-point and on-schedule, and you'll see minimal twitching from your Introvert.

The Chill Mix

Being born at the tail end of Generation X was truly a pleasure...I grew up with audio cassettes that you could throw, drop, scratch, accidentally unwind...and they would still play.  The audio world was our playground.  We would tape off of the radio and pass the recordings to one another as personalized representations of what we thought (or at least what we thought was cool).  We'd tape from LPs too, just to show how truly awesome our music collections were.

Music is an escape and recharge from the regular world for me.  It almost always has been.   During the drive this weekend, I relaxed into the buttery bliss of Gretchen Parlato, and got revved about the drive by listening to Everything But the Girl, The Lemonheads, Ravel, and Jurassic 5. You can take the girl away from audio cassettes and into the 21st century...but you can't take the mix tape bliss out of the girl.

As I returned to work this morning, I listened to a favorite mix.  I've created a four-and-change hour long iTunes playlist called "The Chill Mix." It puts my mind in an incredibly happy space and allows for good, calm work.  In case any of you are interested, this is the list:

Sodade Cesaria Evora Sleeping Where I Want Veruca Salt The Trapeze Swinger Iron & Wine Fell In Love Moxy Früvous Post-Modern Sleaze Sneaker Pimps Train Song Phish Wild Horses The Sundays Comes Love Joni Mitchell Rain MIKA Talula (The Tornado Mix) Tori Amos Catch Me I'm Falling Pretty Poison When I'm Alone Lissie Honest Face Liam Finn + Eliza Jane Better Off Let's Go Sailing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Jars of Clay It's About Time The Lemonheads Pod Party Trevor Jones Money Can't Buy It Annie Lennox Carrier Tone Download Pleasant Valley Sunday The Monkees The Other End (Of the Telescope) 'Til Tuesday Sunday Morning Yellow Sky October Project Nightingale Song Toad The Wet Sprocket Baby Love Child [L.A. English Mix] Pizzicato Five Saturday Sun Nick Drake Gave It Away Kris Delmhorst Sapphire Bullets Of Love They Might Be Giants Blame It On the Tetons Modest Mouse Clint Eastwood (Edited Mix) Gorillaz Recreational Chemistry moe. Lyssa Craig: Untitled Various Grace (Vocal) Yo-Yo Ma;Bobby McFerrin Better Together Jack Johnson Everything In Its Right Place Radiohead The Blackbird [Live] Silly Wizard Holding Back The Years Gretchen Parlato Raindrops + Sunshowers Smashing Pumpkins We Get On Kate Nash Fleurette Africaine Duke Ellington Carry Me Home Murmurs Caramel Suzanne Vega Here With Me Dido Church On Tuesday Stone Temple Pilots My Friends Red Hot Chili Peppers You You You You You The 6ths Skin, Bone & Silicone Susan Enan I Wanna Be Sedated Ramones No Such Thing John Mayer Say Yes (Instrumental) Wax Tailor The Golden Age Beck Great Divide Storyhill Where Is My Mind? Pixies Dead Man's Hill Indigo Girls Andalucia Pink Martini You Are Here That Dog The Stable Song Gregory Alan Isakov Sunflower Low Hall Of Mirrors Siouxsie & The Banshees Vox Sarah McLachlan Take Me Home Lisbeth Scott, Nathan Barr We Do What We Can Sheryl Crow Our Trees Tegan & Sara After Hours The Velvet Underground Mirrorball Everything But The Girl Price Tag (feat. B.o.B) Jessie J Young Folks Peter Bjorn and John Ashes of American Flags Wilco Shriner's Park Melissa Etheridge Tears Rush Take the Money and Run Steve Miller Band

Busy Bee

Although the events of the past few weeks have seemed frenetically frantic, things are finally calming down.  I find that a long-distance drive brings some rhythm and peace to a hectic schedule.  I get to pick my own music if I'm behind the wheel, and generally what I like to listen to is a little too eclectic for fellow passengers' comfort levels (e.g., gansta rap for one song, classical for the next, pop rock, jazz...you get the picture).  When I take the wheel and Romeyn is napping in the passenger seat...the audio world is my oyster.  I listen to my heart's content, and focus on the colors of the season.

We hopped from event to event this weekend, but the four hour drive (two as a passenger and two as the driver) allowed me some precious Introvert time, soaking up the more individual experiences of the moment.   I quite literally felt myself slow down, breathe, and appreciate the gift of the drive. When we arrived for my grandmother's birthday party, I was calm--prepared for the social experience of a gathering of people in an enclosed space (a meeting room at my grandmother's senior living facility--pretty swanky, but still close quarters). 

These little unexpected moments of solitude in between events allows an introvert to slow down, breathe, and be happy.  Recharging is important, even if it's in the form of a solitary chore, a drive, or a nap.  Tomorrow will allow me more of this recharging bliss.  In the meantime, the moment is all mine.

Best. Husband. Ever.

While I spent the weekend needing Maximum Introvert Time to be sick to my stomach and to mourn, my husband did what wise spouses of Introverts do---he engaged in a project.  We kept apologizing to one another over the course of the weekend.  It was actually a little quirky/humorous in the midst of such a horrible time:

Romeyn: "I'm sorry I'm not around more this weekend, Sweetie.  I know you're going through a rough time."

Amanda: "I'm sorry I'm not up to hanging out this weekend, Honey Bear!  I'm going through a rough time!"

...And on and on it went.  When things had blown over and both of us were infinitely more settled (yesterday), my husband spontaneously suggested he take me out for a date on Thursday.  Without me saying a word, he said exactly what I wanted to hear, again!  :)

I don't say it enough.  I have the perfect husband, especially given my Introvertedness! Thank you, Romeyn.  I appreciate your understanding, patience, hand-holding, love, support, and awesomeness.