A goat? I'm sure I asked for a pony...

I now own a goat.

The good news is that someone else has to feed it and milk it and deal with any cleanup. Maybe they get to walk it as well.

Some charity organization lets you sponsor a goat or other useful whatnot for people in poorer parts of the world, so instead of buying presents for all her children, my mother bought us all goats. The grandchildren got the gift-wrapped goodies; I got to listen to my brother make jokes about how "that gets my goat."

Actually it's a good thing, feeble jokes aside. Most everyone I know already has everything they need. Indeed, many of them are trying to get rid of stuff, live simply. I like the idea of giving people things that they need instead of a gift they have to unwrap, exchange, and write a thank you note for.

Plus, I'd hate to try to take a goat on the plane.

HBBC:
12/24 - Walked 6 miles
12/25 - Walked 2 miles
12/26 - Walked 2 miles

Exercise du jour: Jog 3 miles

Oh hell. I'm floundering here. The parade of feeble excuses continues:
12/27 - Skipped the jog, did 30 minutes on the elliptical instead (2 points). Told myself it was okay since I'd been up since 4 in order to catch the damn plane.
12/28 - Skipped the jog, did 10 flights of stairs instead. (1 point). Would have gone jogging, but couldn't find an iPod. Couldn't face the thought of jogging without an iPod. So easily we become spoiled.
I wonder what feeble excuse will present itself tomorrow? One of these years, as God is my witness, I'll run again.
12/29 - Well, the excuse du jour is the weather. Mother Nature couldn't decide between hail, snow, rain and sunshine, so she gave me all of them. I couldn't be expected to run in sunshine, could I? Well, I could've if it had lasted for more than three minutes at a time. Sigh. At least I ate all my veggies (1 point)
12/30 - A measly 2 mile walk. Does eating my veggies still count? (3 points)

Limitations? Bah humbug

Quote du jour: Please drive slowly. Those are cats, not speed bumps.
- A sign next to an alley that I went past today

I don't like acknowledging limitations. Pfui! as Nero Wolfe would say.

I concede that Damn Foot has been a problem in my running schedule, but I was dealing with it. I've gotten accustomed to wearing orthotics, I'm willing to dispense ibuprofen after a run, I'm dealing with it.

Then my body throws me a curve ball out of nowhere, which really pisses me off.

I've been getting more and more stressed about the holidays and the end of the year and all the things left undone that I swore I would get done before that time. I could feel the panic building inside me, but I thought (and rightly) that this was a stupid thing to panic over. So what if I didn't make my goals? They are arbitrary and mostly decided on a whim. I want to get to this point by that time, so let us try for it. Well, sometimes those goals are not within my grasp and I'll just have get it done whenever. It's all good.

Which is fine in theory, but in practice the anxiety kept building up inside me until I really did have a panic attack Monday night. And paid for it on Tuesday with an asthma attack. I could not stop wheezing, so it really was bloody stupid optimistic to venture forth and try to run. (I thought that since the stress-induced asthma was in part caused by stress at work, getting away from work and running would be a help, not a hindrance. I thought wrong.)

Tuesday's run was horrible. I ran about one mile before the lungs made it absolutely clear that they weren't going to play nice and let me get an adequate supply of oxygen. Grrrr... stupid lungs. Stupid body. Why is it playing games like this with me? My legs could have kept going, Damn Foot wasn't complaining, and I still couldn't friggin' get the run in.

Today, I'm taking a vacation day from work to devote myself to all the things I need to get done. Included in this list is yesterday's three mile run. Away from work. Away from incredibly rude co-workers.



Done. Well, sorta. Still not feeling great, so walked one mile and jog/walked three. Better than nothing.



HBBC: 4

Last week of the C25k

Quote du jour: The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
-Arthur C. Clarke

Quotes like this one tend to annoy me. I mean, basically he's saying you have to screw up before you can learn anything. It's probably true, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

Damn Foot is a case in point. I pushed Damn Foot until it developed the pinched nerve before I stopped and went to the foot doctor. Now I'm getting back into the running slowly enough that I'm not pushing past its limits. (It still hurts, but not especially after running. Usually it hurts most first thing in the morning, when my feet are swollen anyway. That, I can live with. For now.)

Exercise du jour: Week 9 of the c25k
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

Not really done, but I'm putting the star up for jogging 1 mile, walking 3.



HBBC: 5 (exercise & veggies)


Photo courtesy of Nevit Dilmen.

Maybe I'm just easily forgettable

Poetry du jour:
The goal is oblivion
I have arrived early.
- Borges, Fifteen Coins

So I went to the Christmas party at work. Ran into a woman that I know. I complimented her on her ruffly blouse, she warned me to avoid the cookies that looked like lemon drops since they contained licorice (which we both loathe). Brief friendly chitchat, then I moved on and so did she.

An hour or so later, I ran into the same woman upstairs in the restroom and the following conversation ensued:
Woman: Did you go to the Christmas party?
Self: Yes, I was there.
Woman: Oh. I didn't see you there.

I guess that's better than leaving a bad impression... right?
(Note: I don't feel bad about this conversation. It struck me as funny.)

Exercise du jour: Playing catch-up. Last run of week 8,c25k.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

This might be tricky. I have found it much easier to fit the run in at work, even though it means changing to run, cleaning up and getting back into work clothes/work mode. Why is this easier than working out at home, where I have much more time and no one cares if I'm dressed for work? This maketh not sense. I'm recording it here in the hope that publicly announcing the exercise du jour will guilt me into actually getting up out of this chair and doing it.

Done! Finally. And may I say, I achieved a new PR (procrastination record) for the hours I spent putting that run off.

HBBC Yesterday, zilch. Today, 4 (the run & ellipticalling, though again I do think they should award HBBC points for gold-medal quality procrastination like that I achieved today)

'Tis the seasonings

What, your family doesn't get dressed up a bit at Christmas?

Quote du jour:

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'
--Dave Barry

Not sure how I'm going to survive Christmas with the family. Meal-wise, I mean. Oh, okay, maybe old frictions too, but mostly meals. Turkey and pecan pie and stuffing and mince pie and rolls and pumpkin pie and ... okay, you're getting the picture.

All the more reason to work out while I can.

Exercise du jour: Week 8 of the c25k

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
Done! It was a bad run, but I felt good about it. I know that doesn't make any kind of sense. Thanks to the cramps, I couldn't eat anything all day. Went out to run anyway, but I had to take walk breaks whenever I got too dizzy and light-headed. I was a couple minutes slower than last time, but I still felt good about getting the run done. Also, walked to the Max and back.

HBBC: 7 (4-1/4 miles walked, 2-3/4 miles jog/walked)

No, this is not an actual picture of my family at Christmas. This is from Santa's Little Helper Match.

The chains of habit

Quote du jour: The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
- Samuel Johnson

I know this is true with bad habits. Hopefully the running habit works the same way.

Exercise du jour: Day 2, Week 8 of the c25k
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
Done! I'm thinking maybe I should keep up with the heavy eating, even if I have now gained back four pounds. I mean, this run flew by. It was longer than I've run in months. Also, even though I had to walk for one minute, it was faster than I've run in months. I didn't even have to walk because I was short of breath. I had to walk because yesterday's stair climbing had tightened my calf muscles to the point where I thought they'd snap. After a minute's walking, they were fine for the rest of the way.
p.s. Whoever said exercising helps cramps was either a liar or a man.
Or, I suppose, both. That's possible. ;)


HBBC: 8 (4-1/4 miles walking, 2-3/4 miles jogging. Plus veggies.)
Illustration by Charles Bell

Cut too many corners, you end up going in circles

Quote du jour: The neurotic doesn't know how to cope with his emotional bills; some he keeps paying over and over, others he never pays at all.
--Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook 1960

Not sure what happened last week with the running jogging.

Wednesday: horrible run. couldn't finish. walked most of the way. exhausted the rest of the day and into the evening.

Friday: fantastic run. could've kept going longer. never walked. felt up the rest of the day.

So what, you are asking yourself, did I do Thursday? Answer: I ate. Bad stuff. Chicken, mostly. Fried chicken at that. Ate several pieces. Gained three pounds. Ordinarily I'd shriek and say "three pounds! Aaaaaaargh!" But ordinarily I wouldn't have felt so much better afterwards, either.

In the past three weeks, I've actually lost about nine pounds. Mostly because I wasn't feeling well, but partly because I've been damn good with the pretty-much-vegetarian meals in limited portions. I think I might have overdone the being good stuff, to the point where the body needed those extra calories to keep up with the pace. Maybe it finally got to the point where it needed to stage a tantrum so I would feel it enough fuel.

Or maybe not. Just a theory.

Exercise du jour: Week 8 of the c25k

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
FAIL. I am a failure, I am a horrible person, I am a wastrel and a sad excuse for a human being.
Oh wait. Sorry. That was meant for my meaningless self-abuse blog.
Honestly, I let life get on top of me. Had to spend several hours off-site today, which was interesting and useful but meant that I couldn't jog at lunch or even anything approximating lunch. And I've gotten so scheduled with all the crap that needs to get done NOW that I'm feeling a bit friggin' overwhelmed with ToDo stuff.
Usually, I let Life slide and get the exercise in instead. Today, it was the reverse.
I'll try to put the run in tomorrow. And I'll try not to get friggin' @#$!$%!! stressed out about all the crap I have to get done before the holidays. Yeah, good luck with that.

HBBC: Big flippin' zero.

Squaring the Circle from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens, emblema XXI, 1618

Run, Merry, Run

Quote du jour:You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving.
- Anatole France

It's odd, but I don't feel like a runner. I've been doing this for a long while, but I still feel like a beginner. Every day, I'm starting all over again.

Exercise du jour: Week 7 of the C25k.
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Done! Wow, this couldn't have been more different than the last time. I got into a rhythm and never needed to stop. I could've kept going more than 2.5 miles, no problem. It felt like I could've gone on forever. What a difference a couple days (of rest and no restriction of calories) makes.


HBBC: 5 (walked 1-1/2 miles, jogged 2-1/2 miles, plus ate my veggies)


Photo courtesy of Jacopo Werther.

Broccoli is beautiful

See? I like vegetables. Sometimes. I love the way mathematical theory meshes with the patterns in nature.

Quote du jour:

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into actions, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, or how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.
— Martha Graham

Exercise du jour: Week 7 of the C25k.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Done. Or good enough. I mean, I didn't jog 2.5 miles, more like 2, but I walked the rest. I felt like a car that had run out of gas -- there weren't even fumes. I'm still wiped out, hours later. If I could've found a co-worker driving my way, I'd have hitched a lift rather than doing the walk home. Is this all because I leapt out of bed at 5 am and did 20 minutes on the elliptical before walking to the Max station? Sheesh.
Walked: 4-1/2 miles. Jogged (sorta) 2-1/2 miles. 20 minutes elliptical.

HBBC: 9 (ate my veggies too)

Now I'm going to have a hot bath and maybe just go to bed.


Fractal photo of broccoli courtesy of Jon Sullivan. Coincidentally, Nova on PBS (American television) is showing a program on fractals this week.

From Chaos, with love

Quote du jour: How is it they live in such harmony, the billions of stars, when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know?
- Thomas Aquinas


For some reason, I'm on the Organization kick. I don't understand what's behind this urge to purge and organize my life, but it feels right so I'm going with it. October was the month of Cleaning Out the Garage. November was devoted to purging all the Stuff that I couldn't get rid of in the garage clean. Now in December I'm focusing on organizing the office and bedroom.

Basically, I'm moving from one end of the house to another, going from the large areas to the smaller ones. This mimics what I tend to do every winter. As the days get shorter and the nights get darker (Oregon gets a lot darker at night than California), I tend to spend more time in small enclosed areas that I can easily keep warm and bright. It would be very hard to spend any time out in the freezing cold garage trying to sort things right now, but it feels natural to hole up in the bedroom.

It's not a retreat; I don't feel like I'm hiding from life. I'm putting my things in order and by extension doing the same thing to myself. In the darkest part of the year, I'm creating order out of the chaos around me and in me.

This has been one hell of a fall cleaning, but I think the end is in sight. One thing that I told myself I would do, after the dog died, was get out more. If you've ever had an older dog, you know how it gets: they can't get out much, yet all they want is to be near you. The obligation binds you close to home. Now that I'm no longer tied that way, and once I get my house in order, I need to get out and explore. Heard tell there's a whole universe out there.

Exercise du jour: Week 7 of the C25k.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Done! Plus, walked 5-1/2 miles and ate all my veggies. So there.



HBBC: A very smug 9
Mind you, my legs aren't feeling smug. They think I'm an idiot for squeezing that extra half mile of walking in so the numbers would line up evenly.
Graphic courtesy of NASA.

Survived week 6 of the C25k

see more Lol Celebs

Okay, so maybe he's not exactly a hunk, but I liked the pun.

Quote du jour: The impossible is often the untried.
- Jim Goodwin

Word du jour: Minging. I had to look this word up, as I'd never encountered it before. Used in reference to haggis-flavored potato chips, it apparently means "smelly, distasteful, ugly or drunk." I'm going to assume the potato chips weren't actually drunk. (Thanks to Shauna from The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl for expanding my vocabulary.)

Site du jour: You've probably seen this before, but I loved Dogs don't understand moving, from Hyperbole and a half. Almost as funny as their classic pain scale. ("Huh. I never knew that about giraffes.")

Exercise du jour:Last day of c25k, week 6
Brisk five-minute warm up walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking. Watch this space for a gold star.

Done! Finally. Plus, walked 4 miles.

HBBC: 7

'Tis the season for the hunting of the haggis...

see more My Food Looks Funny


Quote du jour: You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
- Henrik Ibsen

Site du jour: Yes, it's that time of year again. It's Haggis Hunting Season. Maybe I could bag one and win a free trip to Scotland.

Exercise du jour: While hunting the haggis, still going on with week 6 of the c25k


Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

* Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
* Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
* Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

Done! Tried to do some quick intervals the first set, but that might have been a mistake. Those suckers take it out of you. (Yes, I know that they're meant to, but the last jog I gritted my teeth and practiced that endurance thing.) Plus, ellipticalling.

HBBC:
6

Facebook makes people strange

The problem with not being on Facebook is that you tend to notice its effect on your friends. They start behaving oddly.

One woman dropped by my house, at a time convenient for her, and seemed surprised that I wasn't prepared to stop what I was doing to entertain her. "But I announced on Facebook that I'd be in the neighborhood!" (And no, she's not the Queen of England. Not an evil person either, usually.)

Another example? I got an email from a friend. "Those of you who are on Facebook will have heard the story of the scandal behind X's baby picture. And here's another picture of Z, and you all know about her story. " Um... no, I don't know the story. Should I care?

To me, Facebook is another networking tool. It is not the whole world. I suppose it's not FB itself that is teh evil; it's people's reactions to it. People get swallowed up by Facebook, or World of Warcraft, or any number of other time sinks perfectly good software applications.

Goal of the month: The penultimate day of the 30-day Purge of Stuff.
Done!



Exercise du jour: Week 6 of the c25k.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

* Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
* Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
* Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
* Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
* Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes
Done! Plus, 2 20 minute sets on the elliptical


HBBC: 4
Squirrel courtesy of ray eye.

Hats off to a holiday Friday!

Not only is it Friday, it's Friday of a holiday weekend. Enjoy!

Goal of the month: Day 26 of the 30-day purge. I am proud to say that there is noticeably less stuff around to purge.




Goal of the week: Get up by 8 a.m. (No, I'm not braving the stores today!)

Exercise du jour: C25k Week 5. Yes, it's that time. The infamous 20 minute jog.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
Done! Plus, 20 minutes on the elliptical. Damn foot didn't complain about the 20 minutes jogging, but afterward he bitched a bit. 2 ibuprofen and fingers crossed. The foot doc was right: easing back into running slowly has been pretty painless... at least, it has been so far...


HBBC: 3 (argh! want more points!)
Photo courtesy of Daniel J. Mclain.

I'd have been a hottie back then...

Quote du jour: Judgment of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.
- Ovid

My first reaction on seeing this picture was "Dang! They liked them curvy in ye olde days."
My second reaction was "But there's no excuse for that hat."

Goal of the month: 30-day purge of Stuff. 30 days is a real long time, you know that? I know I'm getting there... the end is in sight... but it's been a long, long month.




Goal of the week: Out the door by 8 a.m. C'mon, Merry! You can do it! (Yeah, I know. Self-pep-talk is pretty sad.)
Oh, the heck with it. I'll take the rest of the week off (since it's a holiday) and make this a goal for next week.

Exercise du jour: Week 5 of the C25k:
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
• Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

Done! I'd originally planned to walk to the library, but it was so friggin' cold that I ended up jogging just to keep the blood flowing. Hey, whatever works. Plus, walked a mile.


HBBC Challenge:
jog - 2
walk - 1

Photo of French ballerina, 1890

No way out Monday

see more Very Demotivational


Goal of the month: Day 22 of the 30-day purge. I am seeing definite progress. Of course, I'm also seeing stuff scattered across the floor, but it's scattered in specific boxes that are designated to go to specific destinations. In other words, the short-term view is depressing, but the long-term outlook is promising.

Goal of the week: Okay, I'm going to try to compromise with the inner slug. Out the door by 8 a.m. That should be doable... right?
Believe it or not -- I did it!



Exercise du jour: Week 5 of the C25k. There, at least, I'm making progress. (I do hope writing that doesn't jinx anything.)

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Done! On the down side, it was a cold, windy, rainy, blustery day. They (y'know, "them") kept promising snow, so almost no one was out besides me. But on the up side, as I got back to the office I ran into a co-worker, an older man who is a super-fit veteran marathon runner. He was so proud of me getting out and running that he gave me a quick hug. Validation!

On the down side again, another kind co-worker gave me a ride to the Max tonight, because "they" had said it was going to snow. I didn't have the heart to tell him I needed the exercise. On the up side (getting sea-sick yet?) I stopped off at the grocery store, which was over a mile from home, and walked home.


HBBC Challenge:
Yoga - 1
Elliptical - 1
Walking to Max/work - 3
C25k - 2

HBBC: What have I gotten into now?

I'm blaming Xenia for this.
What else could you expect from a woman who put the "I" into warrior woman?

Thanks to her, I've signed up for the 3rd annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. To quote the Run to the Finish blog, the rules are thus:

HBBC Rules
1 Point per mile (run/walk/snowshoe)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 20 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of another form of cardio (e.g. kick boxing, aerobics elliptical)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies

Challenge will run from Nov 20 to Jan 7

It doesn't say anything about taking points away for stuffing yourself with stuffing, or pie, or any of the other holiday goodies in store for me this season. Probably a good thing. It is possible to take the holidays too far...


see more Lovely Listing

On the plus side, since I had to push off yesterday's run, this means I get to count yesterday's C25K as part of this challenge, which is a good thing.

If you want to join in the fun, go to Run to the Finish and sign up.
We can all blame Xenia for getting us through the holidays with leaner, fitter bodies.

Santa could use a workout...

Exercise du jour:
Week 4 C25k

A gloomy gray Friday deserves a great photo

Yes, I know it's sexist to put up pictures of scantily clad males on this blog.

Even if it's a picture that's incredibly full of color and makes you want to go find a sunny beach somewhere far away from traffic and rain and cubicles full of work that you're behind schedule on.

But today... I don't care.

I've spent a week of being stymied and thwarted at work, and even though it's Friday I have to confess that I'm feeling
lumpy...
and grumpy...
and frumpy...

as well as gloomy and doomy.

A day like this calls for a great photo.





Site du jour: Adopt a word. The Oxford English dictionary is on a quest to prevent thousands of words from falling out of daily use, and is asking people to "adopt" one, in order to keep it alive. The random feature of the site suggested I adopt the word "yelve."

And to save you the trouble, I looked it up. Turns out that means a fork used to carry dung; such a fork used as a garden tool. Um... are they trying to tell me something? Still, it's a fun site.

Goal of the month: 30 days of throwing stuff out. Maybe throwing stuff out will improve my mood.

Goal of the week: Out the door by 7:30. Maybe if I keep trying, I'll get this done.


Exercise du jour C25k week 4.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

* Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
* Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
* Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
* Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
* Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
* Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
* Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)


Photo courtesy of mateoutah.

100% Fail. I had such high hopes, very pretty high hopes that got thrown down and stomped on by the demands of other people. Push the run back to Saturday, shrug the rest off. Tomorrow is another day. I hope.

Jogging along through week 4 of the C25k

Quote du jour: I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.
-Maya Angelou

Goal of the month: Day 17 of my 30 days of throwing stuff back. Or out. I don't need all these possessions.
Done! Not as much as I'd like, but considering I got home wet, bedraggled, and grumpy, some is better than none.


Goal of the week: Out the door by 7:30. In the a.m., not the p.m. Sounds so simple.
Fail. Not nearly as bad a fail as yesterday (8:30 rather than 9:30) but still, worse than the day before (8). Wish I could report success on this goal, but I'm still struggling.

Exercise du jour: C25k week 4.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Done! Plus, a couple miles walking. Through the frackin' pouring rain. With, of course, the obligatory car splashing through a puddle lake and drenching me from head to foot in freezing cold water. Which maybe burns more calories than being drenched in warm water. What the hell. It's possible.

Look, I've already *been* through high school once

Quote du jour: Those who face that which is actually before them, unburdened by the past, undistracted by the future, these are they who live, who make the best use of their lives, these are the ones who have found the secret of contentment. - Alban Goodier


Probably all of you still have a file containing English Grammar lessons from your 5th grade class... right? (Um, I didn't hear you chime in there. I'm going to assume it was my poor hearing.)

And I'm sure that everyone else knows their exact SAT scores, as I now do. (No, you don't really want me to say it. I ... um... well, I don't want you to feel inadequate, okay? Sheer thoughtfulness, that's me.)

Going through years decades of saved paperwork is like taking a walk down memory lane... except that rather than a walk it feels more like I'm on a treadmill that will never come to an end. No more! Please, I don't want to look at any more papers. I mean, dear Lord, that file of angst-filled high school poetry was ... okay, look, let's just forget I even brought the subject up, okay? It never happened. Plus, all the evidence has been shredded. Very, very thoroughly shredded. So there.

Goal of the month: Still complaining about making my way through the 30 days of purging excess Stuff from my life.
Ugh. Spent tonight throwing out cards and letters from old boyfriends. Why did I have to save everything?


Goal of the week: I want to aim to get out the door by 7:30 a.m. I actually managed to get to bed, if not always to sleep, by 9 p.m. last week. Let's see if I can manage this one.
Well... kinda... sorta... not. I think it was actually 8 a.m., but I'm not sure since, like a coward, I stopped looking at the clock by that point

Exercise du jour: C25k week 4. Something I would never have dreamed of doing in high school. See? I'm evolving. And I promise never to write poetry about a boy ever again. Honest. Cross my heart and hope to never experience H.S. again.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Done! Plus, walked 4-1/2 miles