health & fitness

Shake That Healthy Butt

It’s a slow morning at work, so I figured now would be a good time to catch up on some blogging.

So, Aaron decided to go on Induction this week, and to step up his daily exercise. While I haven’t exactly been on Induction myself (thanks to the McDonald’s and Barry Bagels breakfast runs my co-workers have been making this week), I have been working on stepping up my own exercise. I’ve continued walking during my lunch breaks, despite the freezing temps, and I did some leg exercises with dumbbells on Tuesday night. I’m still sore from those.

Wednesday when I came home from work, I was FULL of energy. It was bizarre. I had offset my meal schedule by having a late breakfast and a later lunch, so I wasn’t hungry at all; I’m sure that was also a major factor in my energy spike. Usually I come home and forage for food as soon as Aaron goes to work. Instead, I got Mom’s birthday present wrapped and did some other randomness before sitting down to work on some genealogy for a few hours. I ended up not jogging on the trampoline like I’d planned, but that’s no big deal, since I’d walked for 45 minutes in the freezing cold over my lunch break. I think that was probably sufficient.

Tonight, though, I’m planning to do either some jogging on the trampoline (assuming my sore legs and butt can take it), or maybe my Pilates For Dummies DVD. That’s good stuff, too.

I’m just sick of that extra 20 pounds — well, 30 pounds now. I want it gone.

Update, 9pm: Is it wrong that the Tae Bo Instructional Workout (i.e. the one that shows you how to do the moves, but doesn’t take you through an entire session of tae bo) still makes me tired and almost sweaty? Next on the agenda: Locate the Tae Bo Basic Workout for cheap or free. Maybe Goodwill or Savers will turn up something.

health & fitness 2 Comments

Obligatory Update

I don’t particularly feel like writing right now, but I figured I’d give everyone a rundown of Thanksgiving and the long weekend.

OK, first off: Aaron and I were maybe 15 minutes down the turnpike, heading toward Cleveland, when I started swearing vehemently. Aaron didn’t miss a beat: “Pie,” he said.

I’d left it in the fridge.

We didn’t go back to get it, although we ended up making good enough time (and dinner ended up being late enough) that we totally could have doubled back and gotten the pie. Ah, well — more for us.

Thanksgiving wasn’t as weird as it could have been. We spent a lot of time chatting with Pete’s kids, who range from 12 (I think?) to 21. Joe, the youngest, finally hit the beginning of his growth spurt and voice change, so that was unexpected and kind of weird to witness. Grammie’s getting a little forgetful in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and Aunt Elaine is going into a nursing home this week due to her own Alzheimer’s-related issues. Things had the potential to be awkward, but really weren’t.

As far as Atkins cheating goes, oh yeah. I cheated, and I didn’t regret it. (Very much.) In the category of not-Atkins-friendly foods, I ate stuffing and sweet potatoes and a little pie, among other things. Oh, and the acorn squash with brown sugar and honey and whatever else couldn’t have been too good for me, either. But there was also ham and turkey and green bean casserole and fruit salad and mashed potatoes and gravy (although I opted to pass on the potatoes).

This week, Aaron’s starting back up on Induction again. He’s changed jobs at work, from a labor-intensive job to a fairly sedentary one, and he’s not happy with the weight he’s gained. So, I’m doing Induction with him. I, too, have gained back most of what I lost in our early October two-week Induction, unfortunately. I’m hoping that some of that is just pre-PMS water weight, but I can’t count on that.

I’m going to make a concerted effort to exercise daily, also. Since it’s getting colder (and rainy / snowy), I’m not going to be able to have my lunchtime walk in the park, so I’ll have to plan some evening indoor activity. Yoga, pilates, tae bo (maybe… Billy Blanks kicks my ass, as a general rule), trampolining / rebounding, or just working out with my free weights. Today was a gorgeous day for November (60°F in Ohio!), so I went ahead and walked. Tomorrow may be 40° and not rainy, so I may walk tomorrow, too. After that, though… *thumbs down*

In other unrelated news, I’ve loaded up my Brownie Bullet camera and am planning to shoot a test roll this week. It looks like it’ll cost me around fifteen bucks to get it developed, though, which kind of sucks.

In even more unrelated news, my old RCC cohort Jeff Hawley included me in his mass e-mail update today! I haven’t talked to him for maybe three or four years. Turns out he’s finished writing a film script, is engaged to a Japanese girl, and did graduate work in England (although I’d already heard that last bit through the grapevine). I e-mailed him back and shared my much less interesting life events with him.

I’m not unhappy with my life, though. I turned out a lot more normal than I could have — and, when I say “normal,” I mean it as a completely good thing.

ruminations 2 Comments

A White Thanksgiving

The first snow is falling.

There’s a fine white mist outside my office window, and I’m unsure whether it makes me excited for the holidays or not. The child in me wants to be giddy and happy about snow and Thanksgiving and having four days off in a row. The adult in me is not thrilled about travelling to Cleveland tomorrow with a Winter Storm Warning in effect, not to mention walking to my car after work today in the bitter cold.

I really want to be excited about the holidays, but it’s just not there.

Thanksgiving this year just seems kind of underwhelming, somehow. Aaron’s dad made the point that it’s kind of depressing, going to holidays now: Grammie and Poppa are getting old, finally, and Aaron’s aunt is going into a nursing home next week. Watching so many people decline in different ways at the same time is just saddening. Plus, now that holidays are being held at Uncle Pete’s house, he doesn’t seem to want or need our help with dinner; the old potluck-style Thanksgivings at Grammie and Poppa’s made us feel needed, somehow.

Then there’s the upcoming holiday season. Christmas, Yule, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, insert-your-holiday-here. Not looking forward to that. I don’t really have a list of people to buy presents for anymore, which really takes the fun out of the holidays for me. Now it’s really just Aaron I’m buying for, plus shippable presents for my own scattered family members.

I could try being all artsy-craftsy and making the pine bough wreaths and garlands I’ve been thinking about, but I know the cat would try to eat them (since they smell like Outside), and the sap would probably ooze onto the walls and furniture, and eventually the needles would start to drop on the floor and generally make a mess.

What an un-cheery point of view I seem to have. Maybe I’ll get into it as the winter wears on.

The steady, powdery snowfall is starting to accumulate now. Happy Thanksgiving.

podcasting

Butternut Squash Pie, Mark II

Some of you may recall that, last Thanksgiving, I attempted to make a butternut squash pie. It was pretty yummy, although it didn’t set up very well due to my forgetting to add the eggs.

This year, I remembered the eggs. Not only that, but I made the edges of the pie crust all pretty, and sprinkled the top with allspice.

But I’m taking the pie to Thanksgiving in Westlake, so I can’t eat it for a day and a half. o.O

Mind you, I should have been podcasting tonight instead of baking, since my next podcast has already been promised to the listenership as “The Thanksgiving Survival Guide,” and it’s going to be pretty much useless if it comes out on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving…

drumcorps 1 Comment

It’s Done.

I turned in my mellophone after last night’s Lakeshoremen Open House.

There were several reasons I decided not to march in 2006, but the membership was definitely not one of those reasons. Everyone was supportive of my decision, and they all seemed to understand, but they really didn’t want me to go. Kemo tried to convince me to attend a few early rehearsals, so we’d have an easier time recruiting mellos, and Ann and Mona kept asking if I’d changed my mind yet.

Really, though, after two years (winter, spring, and summer) of driving to Michigan every other weekend, I’m finding that I’d rather enjoy my weekends with my husband instead. Maybe we can be social sometimes, instead of cramming all our chores and laundry and shopping into one day. Maybe attend some of the weekend-long anime conventions we had to pass on last year. Yes, this is a bit of a selfish decision, I suppose — but this is the time to be selfish, before Aaron and I start a family.

I felt a little more secure about leaving the mello line after seeing the new talent, though. Amber’s returning, and there’s two or three new mellos (depending on whether Courtney ends up being drum major); so, even with me leaving and Duane opting to focus on writing and cleaning drill instead of marching, there’s still a solid core of three or four strong mellos (assuming we don’t scare any of them off). The goal for 2006 is five mellos, so we’re well on our way.

I was pleasantly surprised at not only the number of new people at the Open House, but also at the quality of the overall sound we produced. LSM just keeps getting better and better earlier and earlier every year. The hornline had 19 returning and prospective members total, and there are still a few returning members who couldn’t make the Open House. I think that, if everyone does their part with recruiting, we’ll fill out the hornline this year with no problem. Three tubas (or contras, if you prefer), five mellos, ten baris and ten trumpets (or sopranos, again, if you’re old-school). I think we can do it.

And, yes, I still say “we” because I’m still involved with LSM, despite my not marching. I’m still the webmaster, and I’m still a member at-large of the Board of Directors. (That said, anything I state on my personal site should not by any means be construed to be the official word of the Lakeshoremen. Check lakeshoremen.org for official news.)

It’s like Dan said:

Once you grow up and move on, it’s nice to actually MOVE ON. If you have something positive in your life to devote your attention to, why spend your time and energy on a chapter that is admittedly closed? The glory days of youthful summers are gone, but the heady days of mature summer can kick just as much ass, though in a different way.

I say you can give back to drum corps any way you want, but explore the next chapter of life with the same enthusiasm with which you explored your youth.

As much as I hate to let go of performing, I think I have to agree.