I haven't posted in, well, too long, and since today's chore plans are currently on hold for an undetermined period of time, why not post now!
What's new? Well, lots, I guess. I mean, most of a month and a whole holiday has gone by since I last posted. What couldn't be new?
Christmas was pretty great! At all three gift-exchanging events, I found myself looking forward more to the reactions of people I/we gave presents to, than to my own presents. Does make me a grown up? Anyway, everyone seemed to be genuinely surprised and happy with their gifts, which made me VERY happy! :) We also got spoiled, between three sets of parents! The two biggest items were a small Weber grill and a cordless drill, from Ryan's dad and my mother, respectively. Both are going to be very well-loved, I can tell.
The two days of Christmas was also laden with delicious food: Christmas morning at Kerry and Mary's (eggs, french toast, raisin toast, home fries, sausage, bacon, coffee, juice), Christmas dinner at Gail and Jon's (turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, squash, peas, gravy, pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert), then day-after-Christmas supper at Mom's with Dad (hearty beef stew and biscuits, with pumpkin cheesecake, pecan-pumpkin-sweet potato pie, and chocolate chip banana bread for dessert) (Mom's house had more dessert than regular food, what a surprise).
Yesterday the gifting fun continued, between Ryan and I. We dropped my car off at Best Buy to get my new car stereo installed, then went off to Verizon to get Ry a new phone, and back to Best Buy to get him a music player. By the end of the night we were both rife with shiny new distractions that make pretty sounds and pretty lights :D
(Unfortunately, they didn't have the right spacers for my new speakers, but I can still listen to the stereo itself through my factory speakers until the new spacers get installed sometime next week. I actually kind of like this series of steps up: factory sound, Kenwood sound on factory speakers, Kenwood sound on Kenwood speakers. Comparing is fun!)
In other news, I'm still trying to keep up the exercise and diet routine. The past week was pretty rough, I had a few days where I woke up feeling kinda weak and underpowered, then the two days of holiday food and not moving a whole lot. Aside from those two days, the diet thing is going pretty smoothly. I eat a LOT of yogurt (mostly Greek), lots of fruit, I've gotten better about veggies and salads, and I'm keeping the big carb meals to dinner, to fuel the next morning's work out. After four-ish days of little to no exercise, I'm slowly ramping my way back up to Lots Of Hooping, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep it ramped once the holidays are done and the new year has officially started.
Speaking of which! This may be my last post of 2011, so I may as well talk about resolutions, eh? I have a few little ones, but they stem off of the big one:
Don't waste time.
Before Ryan has an aneurysm and Dad starts gibbering, let me explain what I mean by "wasting time." I DON'T mean writing, reading, taking pictures, playing with Photoshop, video games, socializing, or even staring at a screen or into space. Sometimes, I desperately need any or all of those things to decompress, to let some steam evaporate before it escapes as tears or whining. What I DO mean by "wasting time" is dithering about, going in circles, getting stuck in cycles, being frozen in indecision because I feel like any of the things I just listed IS wasting time and I SHOULD (dirty word!) be cleaning or organizing or erranding or some other Productive Thing.
I've got a lot of shit to do this year. I have quite a few trips to New York for my dress, a trip to Arizona for a wedding, I promised I'd go back to Indiana sometime this year, getting serious with my novel, getting serious with my shop, and, oh yeah, MY OWN WEDDING, plus working full time (possibly two jobs in the summer) and hooping my ass off and still being as social as possible before some of my friends fly off to other places. I won't have time to curl up into a ball and cry because I want to relax with Mario Kart but there are dirty dishes in existence. I have to re-categorize my mind so that anything that helps me relax and keep things in perspective and keep my physical and mental energy up is listed under Productive Things.
So. Anyway. That's most of the new stuff. There's a few other bits, but they mostly revolve around money and To Do lists and minor personal drama, so I won't get into it now, okay?
If you read this before the 31st, I wish you a fun-filled New Year's! May the worst day of the next year be equal to the best day of the last! Cheers!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Progress Report!
Since I wrote last week, the following things have happened:
[o] I've started hula hooping
[o] I've agreed to change my "show" month at the store to January if the January artist agrees to the trade, due to horrid planning and technical difficulties
[o] I've started hooping
[o] I've hit my weight loss goal
[o] I've met and talked to author Wally Lamb twice
[o] I've started hooping
The Photo Thing:
I can't remember if I mentioned it here, but back in October, I asked my boss about the possibility of having my photography up on a "show wall" in the back of our store. He said "You want December?" and I jumped at it. I then spent November freaking out about everything else in my life except the photography, and when it came down to the wire, I went over to Dad's house to select and print the photos...and his printer stopped working.
We bought a new one, but it isn't installed yet, plus finding the time to print them all and to drive to Hartford to get good but inexpensive frames has been completely impossible thus far (partly, again, due to my failure at planning). I told my boss that I would be very late at best, and is January taken? He groaned and said yes, he gave it to a customer named Jorge, but he would ask Jorge if he would be able to get his picture up and be willing to switch. I haven't heard back from Boss Man about that just yet, but I've been off the past two days, so that's not surprising.
The Wally Lamb Thing:
Not all of you reading may know who Wally Lamb is, so I'll tell you: he's an author from Connecticut, whose sons I went to school with, whose books have been on the New York Times Bestsellers list and Oprah's Book Club, whose books I devour and adore (despite my inherent belief that Mr. Lamb creates a long list of all the horrible things that can happen to his characters and then throws darts at it). His books are beyond absorbing, his characters are wondrously fleshed out, his use of language is magical, and, overall, reading his books is like falling into a movie, or a long-running TV show, or just into the character's life. He's written four wonderful and addictive books, has a wonderful and talented family, and, unless I'm mistaken, makes his living through his writing. In other words, he, as well as the other authors on my Top Five list, is who I want to be when I grow up.
And he came into my store. TWICE.
The first time, it was busy enough that I was taking names for each drink. When I asked him for his, he said "Wally," and I had a moment of "...Wait." I squinted at him, thought it might be him, wrote his name down while deciding I wasn't going to ask in case it wasn't and I embarrassed myself, decided to hell with it, and asked him. AND IT WAS HIM. And I immediately started gushing, I am such a huge fan of yours books, I've read them all, oh wow, smiling like an idiot, in case you couldn't tell from my writing right now I'm STILL really excited that I got to meet him. He told me it was sweet of me to tell him, and was very nice, and went on his way.
Then he came in again a few days later, AND HE REMEMBERED ME. He said "You were the one who likes my books, right? I have some out in the car, which one would you like?" I did that stupid gushy smile again and said "Oh, I think I have them all, unless there's another one that I've missed?" And he mentioned his Christmas one, and I was all oh yeah, my mother gave me that one for Christmas last year, and he smiled and was nice again and went on his merry way again and I realized half an hour later WAIT DID HE JUST OFFER ME A BOOK AND I WAS DUMB ENOUGH TO BASICALLY TURN HIM DOWN?
FOR EFFS SAKE RUTH.
Ahem. After the first time he came in, I went straight to my old room at my mom's house after work and got I Know This Much Is True off the shelf. I'm devouring it for I think the third time ever, and I plan on keeping it near the register every time I'm working from now on just in case he comes in again and I have the chance to ask for his signature. And tell him that he's basically one of my idols and I'm so glad he's nice and didn't shatter my dreams by being a jerk.
Okay. Done now. Man I hope he doesn't stumble on this somehow and think I'm a creepy stalker.
The Weight Thing:
I discovered this morning, not half an hour ago, that I hit my goal on the Wii Fit Plus a full three days ahead of schedule. Whee! I'm just shy off 155, in a healthy BMI range (at least according to the machine) (yes I know BMIs aren't a good form of measurement) (for the record I'm 5'6" go do your own calculations if you want), and my next goal is to love five pounds in the next month.
My goal with the exercising and eating better is not to lose a bunch of weight and be thin. All I really want is to be strong and flexible, to have energy and stamina, and just be healthy overall. I'm not going to lie and say that I wouldn't mind parts of me being a bit smaller, I do have some vanity when it comes to my tum and how clothes fit me and all that. But, again, the goal is not to be able to fit into a size 0 skinny jean and only eat croutons. I've been enjoying my new diet made up almost entirely by yogurt, fruit, and salad, with the occasional hunk of meat, slab of cheese, or glass of boozahol.
The Weight Thing is directly related to The Hooping Thing:
Dad gave me his old hula hoop about a month ago. It's not your typical hula hoop that you pick up at the toy store; he made this one himself from flexible plumber's pipe. It's a little bigger and a bit heavier than your average toy store hoop, which somehow makes it simultaneously easier and more physically demanding to get it spinning and keep it going. I started last Thursday, skipped Friday when I could feel a bruised ring around my waist, then started again on Saturday and haven't skipped a day since. Thursday through Monday were 10 minutes, Tuesday was 15 minutes, and yesterday was 20, plus at least half an hour in Mom's garage just trying to teach myself some simple hand tricks.
It makes me sweat from head to toe, works every muscle group from my shoulders down to my calves, and is SO. MUCH. FUN. It makes me wish I had more open indoor space to play in, though I am thankful that our living room, with the sofa pushed back is juuuuust enough room to do the basic hoop.
I'm addicted! And I plan on either decorating this one at the next get-together thrown by one of my Dad's friends/one of my regular customers, Cherese, or getting another one to decorate as this one is a bit beat up from being a practice hoop. I worked on some simple tricks yesterday, as I said, and I plan on watching more videos and practicing some more until I can purposefully hoop around my hips and knees, get it on and off me fluidly with it still spinning, learn how to step through it gracefully, etc and do it all without having to stop to fetch the hoop back from the other side of the room.
WHEE!
Yesterday was the Get Things Done Day Off, filled with laundry and shopping and other chores and errands. Some spilled into today, as will happen, but the basic plan for Effing Relax Day Off is:
[o] exercise
[o] shower
[o] eat
[o] Post Office
[o] Stephanie
[o] read more I Know This Much Is True to get myself in a good-writing groove
[o] settle down somewhere to whack at my story until Nacho time
([o] while keeping an eye on the weather)
Aaaaaand OFF I go!
[o] I've started hula hooping
[o] I've agreed to change my "show" month at the store to January if the January artist agrees to the trade, due to horrid planning and technical difficulties
[o] I've started hooping
[o] I've hit my weight loss goal
[o] I've met and talked to author Wally Lamb twice
[o] I've started hooping
The Photo Thing:
I can't remember if I mentioned it here, but back in October, I asked my boss about the possibility of having my photography up on a "show wall" in the back of our store. He said "You want December?" and I jumped at it. I then spent November freaking out about everything else in my life except the photography, and when it came down to the wire, I went over to Dad's house to select and print the photos...and his printer stopped working.
We bought a new one, but it isn't installed yet, plus finding the time to print them all and to drive to Hartford to get good but inexpensive frames has been completely impossible thus far (partly, again, due to my failure at planning). I told my boss that I would be very late at best, and is January taken? He groaned and said yes, he gave it to a customer named Jorge, but he would ask Jorge if he would be able to get his picture up and be willing to switch. I haven't heard back from Boss Man about that just yet, but I've been off the past two days, so that's not surprising.
The Wally Lamb Thing:
Not all of you reading may know who Wally Lamb is, so I'll tell you: he's an author from Connecticut, whose sons I went to school with, whose books have been on the New York Times Bestsellers list and Oprah's Book Club, whose books I devour and adore (despite my inherent belief that Mr. Lamb creates a long list of all the horrible things that can happen to his characters and then throws darts at it). His books are beyond absorbing, his characters are wondrously fleshed out, his use of language is magical, and, overall, reading his books is like falling into a movie, or a long-running TV show, or just into the character's life. He's written four wonderful and addictive books, has a wonderful and talented family, and, unless I'm mistaken, makes his living through his writing. In other words, he, as well as the other authors on my Top Five list, is who I want to be when I grow up.
And he came into my store. TWICE.
The first time, it was busy enough that I was taking names for each drink. When I asked him for his, he said "Wally," and I had a moment of "...Wait." I squinted at him, thought it might be him, wrote his name down while deciding I wasn't going to ask in case it wasn't and I embarrassed myself, decided to hell with it, and asked him. AND IT WAS HIM. And I immediately started gushing, I am such a huge fan of yours books, I've read them all, oh wow, smiling like an idiot, in case you couldn't tell from my writing right now I'm STILL really excited that I got to meet him. He told me it was sweet of me to tell him, and was very nice, and went on his way.
Then he came in again a few days later, AND HE REMEMBERED ME. He said "You were the one who likes my books, right? I have some out in the car, which one would you like?" I did that stupid gushy smile again and said "Oh, I think I have them all, unless there's another one that I've missed?" And he mentioned his Christmas one, and I was all oh yeah, my mother gave me that one for Christmas last year, and he smiled and was nice again and went on his merry way again and I realized half an hour later WAIT DID HE JUST OFFER ME A BOOK AND I WAS DUMB ENOUGH TO BASICALLY TURN HIM DOWN?
FOR EFFS SAKE RUTH.
Ahem. After the first time he came in, I went straight to my old room at my mom's house after work and got I Know This Much Is True off the shelf. I'm devouring it for I think the third time ever, and I plan on keeping it near the register every time I'm working from now on just in case he comes in again and I have the chance to ask for his signature. And tell him that he's basically one of my idols and I'm so glad he's nice and didn't shatter my dreams by being a jerk.
Okay. Done now. Man I hope he doesn't stumble on this somehow and think I'm a creepy stalker.
The Weight Thing:
I discovered this morning, not half an hour ago, that I hit my goal on the Wii Fit Plus a full three days ahead of schedule. Whee! I'm just shy off 155, in a healthy BMI range (at least according to the machine) (yes I know BMIs aren't a good form of measurement) (for the record I'm 5'6" go do your own calculations if you want), and my next goal is to love five pounds in the next month.
My goal with the exercising and eating better is not to lose a bunch of weight and be thin. All I really want is to be strong and flexible, to have energy and stamina, and just be healthy overall. I'm not going to lie and say that I wouldn't mind parts of me being a bit smaller, I do have some vanity when it comes to my tum and how clothes fit me and all that. But, again, the goal is not to be able to fit into a size 0 skinny jean and only eat croutons. I've been enjoying my new diet made up almost entirely by yogurt, fruit, and salad, with the occasional hunk of meat, slab of cheese, or glass of boozahol.
The Weight Thing is directly related to The Hooping Thing:
Dad gave me his old hula hoop about a month ago. It's not your typical hula hoop that you pick up at the toy store; he made this one himself from flexible plumber's pipe. It's a little bigger and a bit heavier than your average toy store hoop, which somehow makes it simultaneously easier and more physically demanding to get it spinning and keep it going. I started last Thursday, skipped Friday when I could feel a bruised ring around my waist, then started again on Saturday and haven't skipped a day since. Thursday through Monday were 10 minutes, Tuesday was 15 minutes, and yesterday was 20, plus at least half an hour in Mom's garage just trying to teach myself some simple hand tricks.
It makes me sweat from head to toe, works every muscle group from my shoulders down to my calves, and is SO. MUCH. FUN. It makes me wish I had more open indoor space to play in, though I am thankful that our living room, with the sofa pushed back is juuuuust enough room to do the basic hoop.
I'm addicted! And I plan on either decorating this one at the next get-together thrown by one of my Dad's friends/one of my regular customers, Cherese, or getting another one to decorate as this one is a bit beat up from being a practice hoop. I worked on some simple tricks yesterday, as I said, and I plan on watching more videos and practicing some more until I can purposefully hoop around my hips and knees, get it on and off me fluidly with it still spinning, learn how to step through it gracefully, etc and do it all without having to stop to fetch the hoop back from the other side of the room.
WHEE!
Yesterday was the Get Things Done Day Off, filled with laundry and shopping and other chores and errands. Some spilled into today, as will happen, but the basic plan for Effing Relax Day Off is:
[o] exercise
[o] shower
[o] eat
[o] Post Office
[o] Stephanie
[o] read more I Know This Much Is True to get myself in a good-writing groove
[o] settle down somewhere to whack at my story until Nacho time
([o] while keeping an eye on the weather)
Aaaaaand OFF I go!
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