Friday, July 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Swimming and other summer obsessions
It occurs to me that I've gone quite a long time without a post and apparently this has made at least one of my readers nervous. Yes, Christina, I am alive and well, thanks for asking!
Nothing much exciting has been happening (other than a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my Mom - numerous posts about our trip can be found here), I've just been taking it a bit easy.
In no particular order, here's what I've been doing with my free time:
1. Swimming! We're at Bartholomew or Mueller pool 3 or 4 days a week, mostly just chatting and bobbing around. I have a tan, working on my Freestyle, and plan on re-learning to dive later this summer.
2. Reading! Finishing books at a mad pace, mostly to distract myself from the insane level of anticipation about Breaking Dawn. You can check out everything I've read and what I thought about it on my Facebook profile. As promised, I'm reading some grown up books these days, but still with a fair amount of YA mixed in.
3. Watching Le Tour! Yes, there continue to be some serious doping issues with the race, but it's still awesome for several reasons. The Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia teams are keeping it clean and doing amazingly well - go U.S.A.! Several of my favorites are alumni of Lance's teams, and it's really great to watch them doing so well for themselves, after spending so many years supporting him.
4. Running! I'm back to consistent 4-6 mile runs in preparation for Disney World in January and I'm really loving it so far. Mostly running on the treadmill at the gym, but the new trail at Mueller is quite a nice run as well if I can get out before it gets too hot.
Nothing much exciting has been happening (other than a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my Mom - numerous posts about our trip can be found here), I've just been taking it a bit easy.
In no particular order, here's what I've been doing with my free time:
1. Swimming! We're at Bartholomew or Mueller pool 3 or 4 days a week, mostly just chatting and bobbing around. I have a tan, working on my Freestyle, and plan on re-learning to dive later this summer.
2. Reading! Finishing books at a mad pace, mostly to distract myself from the insane level of anticipation about Breaking Dawn. You can check out everything I've read and what I thought about it on my Facebook profile. As promised, I'm reading some grown up books these days, but still with a fair amount of YA mixed in.
3. Watching Le Tour! Yes, there continue to be some serious doping issues with the race, but it's still awesome for several reasons. The Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia teams are keeping it clean and doing amazingly well - go U.S.A.! Several of my favorites are alumni of Lance's teams, and it's really great to watch them doing so well for themselves, after spending so many years supporting him.
4. Running! I'm back to consistent 4-6 mile runs in preparation for Disney World in January and I'm really loving it so far. Mostly running on the treadmill at the gym, but the new trail at Mueller is quite a nice run as well if I can get out before it gets too hot.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Summertime
My girl Fayrene does an excellent job of showing one of my new favorite things about summer - movies in the backyard. John's talking about us watching the 100 films from Entertainment Weekly's list of new classics, and if F brings her fantastic strawberry shortcake every time, then count me in!
Movies in the backyard are still a distant 2nd to my other favorite pastime - swimming at Bartholomew Pool, but that's a whole other post.
Movies in the backyard are still a distant 2nd to my other favorite pastime - swimming at Bartholomew Pool, but that's a whole other post.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Violent and Crazy
This Violent Femmes rendition of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy is making its way around the Interwebs today, but it's so fantastic I'm jumping on the bandwagon.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
All I Want for Christmas is a Vitamix
I really love smoothies and I don't like Jamba Juice (too sweet) or Daily Juice (too far from my house/filled with hippies.) So, I make them at home.
Trouble is, my crappy blender can't blend all of the delectable things I put in (greens like kale, romaine lettuce or spinach have found their way in, as have beets, carrots and of course assorted fruits).
A man was selling fancy blenders at Costco once for $300 and I wouldn't let John buy one. The Vitamix 5200 pictured here retails for closer to $500 and I'm pretty serious about wanting one. Because even if you like beets in your smoothies (who doesn't!???), trust me when I say that you want them blended up really well.
My recipe, you ask? Sure...
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 to 1 cup water, depending on thickness
4-6 ice cubes
2 cups assorted frozen fruit (banana, mango, blueberries - all fantastic!)
2 big handfuls of leafy greens, the greener the better
The blender should be full all the way to the top, and if you have a crappy blender like mine you'll have to periodically stop/re-start to shake it up to help things along. Half an apple gets rid of the kale taste - the other greens are easier to hide.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Heartbreaking Work
June 10th makes it 2 years since Dad died. I made it through the 10th okay, but was pretty much a mess all day yesterday (the 11th) - I think it's because that was the day we finally got to the house in Pennsylvania, and the day I called all of the relatives, making it more of the "real" day for me. I've been thinking lately about all of the strange stages and phases of grief I've traveled through so far. Time, it seems, continues to move too fast and too slowly - some days it's like the first day he's gone, then yesterday I spent hours trying to figure out if it was the 2nd or 3rd anniversary.
Somewhat related, I tried to re-read "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and ended up leaving it on the night stand at the JW Marriot in Washington. I read it when it first came out and didn't think too much of it, but I thought that now maybe I would "get it" since my circumstances have changed. Nope, still not a fan. I'm probably bias because I know (and like) someone who doesn't get portrayed very well in the book. But I still don't buy what I think is one of the main themes - that people who have been sideswiped by grief are members of a special club that "regular" folks could never understand, and it's okay to (on some level) write everyone else off. Dad's death doesn't make me part of a special club, and if it does I guess I don't want to be a member.
Somewhat related, I tried to re-read "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and ended up leaving it on the night stand at the JW Marriot in Washington. I read it when it first came out and didn't think too much of it, but I thought that now maybe I would "get it" since my circumstances have changed. Nope, still not a fan. I'm probably bias because I know (and like) someone who doesn't get portrayed very well in the book. But I still don't buy what I think is one of the main themes - that people who have been sideswiped by grief are members of a special club that "regular" folks could never understand, and it's okay to (on some level) write everyone else off. Dad's death doesn't make me part of a special club, and if it does I guess I don't want to be a member.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Lessons from a lazy weekend
Coming off of a delightfully lazy weekend - yoga, playing on the Wii Fit, watching movies, reading and hanging out on the couch with John and all of the animals (including the world's cutest kitty who really really needs a good home).
I finished Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever and Just Listen, both sweetly satisfying if somewhat simple YA books that I really identified with, for different reasons. In The Truth About Forever, the main character struggles through getting over the sudden loss of her Dad by trying to be as perfect as possible. In Just Listen, the main character finds love with the outsider boy who is obsessively passionate about music. A key message from both is that you can't deny the ugliness of your past, which is certainly something I continue to struggle with. Both girls are quick to use one of my often used phrases - "It's fine" - for all of us it usually means, "things are not fine but let's all pretend that they are cause that feels easier right now." In Dessen's books, there's always a thoughtful, handsome boy who compassionately guides the main characters through the heartache of moving on. Cheaper than a therapist, certainly, but not particularly realistic for a 31 year old married lady. Especially one who is so obstinate about doing everything herself.
Now that I think about it, Jenn's Hatha class on Saturday morning kindof fit with this theme as well. It was a really restorative class, lots of props and heart opening, and slowly moving between poses. Jenn talked a lot about the concept of "storylines" - basically, the idea that we're always working to convey our storyline - our idea of who we are and what we're about. The storyline is usually a myth - a way of forcing ourselves into compartments and easy definitions. At the end of class, during savasana, Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's Halleluja started playing - that song's always a trigger for me and I quietly cried, which felt really nice, actually.
It's been a while since I had some time to sit around and lazily digest things, and all of the reading and watching and generally taking things in feels like preparation for something. Maybe I'll finally start writing (REALLY writing, not just the blathering that happens here) or just start to get some real clarity about why bad things sometimes happen to (relatively) good people.
I finished Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever and Just Listen, both sweetly satisfying if somewhat simple YA books that I really identified with, for different reasons. In The Truth About Forever, the main character struggles through getting over the sudden loss of her Dad by trying to be as perfect as possible. In Just Listen, the main character finds love with the outsider boy who is obsessively passionate about music. A key message from both is that you can't deny the ugliness of your past, which is certainly something I continue to struggle with. Both girls are quick to use one of my often used phrases - "It's fine" - for all of us it usually means, "things are not fine but let's all pretend that they are cause that feels easier right now." In Dessen's books, there's always a thoughtful, handsome boy who compassionately guides the main characters through the heartache of moving on. Cheaper than a therapist, certainly, but not particularly realistic for a 31 year old married lady. Especially one who is so obstinate about doing everything herself.
Now that I think about it, Jenn's Hatha class on Saturday morning kindof fit with this theme as well. It was a really restorative class, lots of props and heart opening, and slowly moving between poses. Jenn talked a lot about the concept of "storylines" - basically, the idea that we're always working to convey our storyline - our idea of who we are and what we're about. The storyline is usually a myth - a way of forcing ourselves into compartments and easy definitions. At the end of class, during savasana, Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's Halleluja started playing - that song's always a trigger for me and I quietly cried, which felt really nice, actually.
It's been a while since I had some time to sit around and lazily digest things, and all of the reading and watching and generally taking things in feels like preparation for something. Maybe I'll finally start writing (REALLY writing, not just the blathering that happens here) or just start to get some real clarity about why bad things sometimes happen to (relatively) good people.
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