The exercise routine of J. Arthur Prufrock

Quote du jour: I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled.
- T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Arthur Prufrock"

Yesterday, I made a passing remark to a passing co-worker about the Dot Com era. "Ah yes," he said. "I wasn't in the working environment back then."

Somehow I got the feeling that back then was a looooooooong time ago.

Exercise du jour: I'm going to brush off the cobwebs, and totter my way through the push up and sit up challenges.

Week 2 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 2
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 10
Set 2 - 12
Set 3 - 9
Set 4 - 9
Set 5 - 13

Week 2 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 2
Set 1 - 21
Set 2 - 24
Set 3 - 18
Set 4 - 18
Set 5 - 26
Done! Stealth exercising on my lunch break. Youch! (That's similar to 'ouch,' only said with a lot of feeling and of course an exclamation point.)

Merry and the big bad wolf

Quote du jour: The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again. - Erma Bombeck

No, that title does not refer to my beautiful German Shedder Dog.
Dog, not wolf... in case you're confused...

I mean that when I run trudge, I huff and I puff and I could probably blow your house down if I'm not careful. Another reason to hide inside my house and pretend that Orlando Manuel isn't lying to me about the pitiful excuse for distance. (I'm sorry, OM, you lyin' treadmill, but it does not take me 40 minutes to jog one single solitary persnickety mile.)

Exercise du jour: 40 minutes running
Oh hell. Need to turn this into an excuse du jour. And a feeble one at that. It doesn't sound very credible to say the Voices in my Head told me not to run tonight. If you think that sounds bad, try saying the cramps told me not to run tonight. See? Doesn't that sound even worse?

The rules are simple

Rule #1: Merry is always right.
Rule #2: When Merry is wrong, see rule #1.

Really, it's quite simple. I don't see why these rules have not been more universally adopted. Yet.

Exercise du jour:

Week 2 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 1
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 9
Set 2 - 11
Set 3 - 8
Set 4 - 8
Set 5 - 11

Week 2 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 1
Set 1 - 21
Set 2 - 21
Set 3 - 15
Set 4 - 15
Set 5 - 22

Done! Damn. I wonder if my body's gained immense poundage over the weekend? The arms are quite definite about their feelings on push ups. Feels like I'm at my limit and it's only the second week. Of course, that's the great thing about the push up challenge -- takes me up to my limit and then I find I can do a bit more next time. Maybe. I might end up repeating this week.

Dead woman's tulips

For many years I was self-appointed inspector of snow-storms and rain-storms and did my duty faithfully.

- Thoreau

I need to get PhotoShop on this computer.
You can barely see the large yellow tulips at the base of the tree. Trust me: they're there.

I love days like this. Warm and cloudy, spring rains and the occasional glorious burst of sunshine and blue sky. I love to sit on the porch and listen to the rain falling on the roof. I love being surrounded by green and growing things. Feels as if Nature is trying to apologize for stripping all the leaves from the trees and leaving everything grey and brown and dead looking for months.

Winter? You must have been imagining it...

I feel compelled to blog about the yard again. This kind of post is great to read if you're having insomnia -- at least, a lot of people seem to drop off when I raise this topic. But I can't help it. It's fascinating to see what is popping up this year. Tulips that I've never seen in the stores, irises that I know full well I didn't plant, even that rose bush that I accidentally mowed down last year is making a comeback on the front lawn.

How can I mow with little tulips popping up through the grass?

I thought tulips only lived a year or two, but these bulbs must have been planted at least three years ago. It feels as if I'm living with someone else's yard, seeing the results of choices made by a woman who's been dead for a couple of years. Does that sound morbid? I just bothered to look up her obituary, and she didn't actually die in the house. I don't think anyone has died here. It's only 60 years old.

Lord knows I'm not psychic, but the old house I grew up in always felt as if it had a couple ghosts hanging around. (Yes, it did have a grave in the backyard, but I always assumed that was a pet's grave, or maybe a small child's grave. The headstone has some initials and RIP, but no dates. Did they bury humans in backyards 100 years ago? Somehow that doesn't sound likely.)

Oh. This is a blog devoted to exercise -- of the body rather than the imagination. So I should post something exercise-related.

Exercise du jour: 50 minutes running.
1/2

Only half a star. Jog/trudged for about 25 minutes. For some reason, my stupid foot started hurting halfway in and got steadily worse, until I finally decided I was making it worse by pounding on it every other step. Frustrating.



Plus bonus exercise of an hour or so of weeding. If I don't come back, you'll know the weeds got me. Make that three friggin' hours of weeding and mowing and sowing. Maybe I could hire a goat to keep the lawn trimmed.

Ouch! I've been tagged!

Yikes!


Oh. Turns out I haven't been marked down. Nunhead Mum of One has tagged me with answering questions.

1. What are your current obsessions?

It's either me or the weeds in the front yard. One of us has got to go. Also, I tend to worry obsessively about the high probability of losing my job. (But since that mostly likely won't happen for another 4 or 5 months, why not be proactive and Take Steps instead of worrying? I know, I know...)

2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?

My comfy old Shakespearean T-Shirt (Midsummer Night's Dream) that I got in Ashland.

3. What was for dinner?

Salad, bell peppers, carrots... and a couple of butter crisp cookies that undid all the good of the veggies.

4. Last thing you bought?

Drugs. Non-hallucinogenic steroids so that the dog will grown big and tough like Wolverine stop having allergies.

5. What are you listening to?

Rumpole & the Reign of Terror.

6. What five items could you not leave the house with?

Keys, cell phone, purse, iPod, my sanity. Well, four out of five, anyway.

7. Favourite holiday spots?

Always Mendocino, though right now I can hear Washington Park calling...

Photo of Mendocino village courtesy MeganPru

8. Reading right now?

Just finished Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Lots of research, which could've been condensed. The actual point of the book was summarized in 8 points in the epilogue.

9. 4 words to describe yourself:

Easily Distracted by BSTs (Bright Shiny Things)

10. Guilty pleasure?

Did I mention those butter crisp cookies yet? Oh, I have.

11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?

Friends, family, things my girlfriend and I have argued about... lots of things, actually.

12. First spring thing?

Snowdrops always show up first, then the daffodils and tulips. Now it's the annual Neighborhood Rhododendron Race. Why do my neighbor's always blossom first? Just on the totally unreasonable grounds that they get twice the sunlight? I think they cheat somehow.

Still, do they have fancy pink-and-white striped tulips? I think not...

13. Planning to travel to next?

Saving up my pennies ... and aspirin... for a family reunion in August down in San Francisco.

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?

I'm sure I mentioned those butter crisp cookies already once or twice.

15. When did you last get tipsy?

If I could remember, I wouldn't have been tipsy...

16. Favorite ever film?

Just one? Off the top of my head I'd say "American Dreamer" or "Hear my Song" or something oldish like that.

17. Care to share some wisdom?

Avoid negative people. They don't improve the scenery or the situation.

18. Favorite song?

For some reason I'm going through an odd Laura Nyro retro crush at the moment. Couldn't narrow it down to one song.


19. Last text message you received?
This mysterious woman back east wished me a Happy Easter. She tends to text me when I'm not in a position to text back. Sneaky.

20. What would you change about yourself?

I'd like to be taller. Much taller. Tired of being one of the vertically challenged.


Rules of the meme
Respond and rework
Answer questions on your own blog
Replace one question
Add one question
Tag 8 people

Hmmn... I was going to pass on that last one, since some people don't like being tagged. But then I thought I'd nominate people who wouldn't feel a smidgen of guilt at passing if they didn't feel like being tagged. So, the nominees are:

BCB
McB
Theresa (it's not as if she has any Big House Party to plan for or anything...)
Xenia She's been tagged already. Damn.
GP
Lori (bit tricky, since she doesn't have a blog. I suppose she could always *ahem* guest post at the Bar & Grill?)
OH, who likewise appears to be blogless at the moment. I suppose she could always help Lori; that way they'd only have to answer a few dozen questions each. I'm sure they'd be great together.
Scope
CMS

One reason I'll never become a nun

I'd never make it as a nun. I just can't get into the habit.

Of anything.

Still, I managed one week of challenge exercises.

Exercise du jour:

Week 1 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 3
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 8
Set 2 - 10
Set 3 - 7
Set 4 - 7
Set 5 - 10

Week 1 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 3
Set 1 - 17
Set 2 - 22
Set 3 - 14
Set 4 - 14
Set 5 - 20

Done! Definitely the Earth's gravity has increased. That was a struggle, and it's only the first week. This bodes ominous. Yesterday my arms were sore, all day. Triceps and the muscles along the ribs just under the arms. (Yes, I could go look up the official name. Don't feel like the bother. You know which muscles I mean.)

Photo credit: Imaging Brain

You can't run away from exercise, more's the pity

Quote du jour: In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.
- Mao Tse Tung

Exercise du jour: 40 minutes running

Photo credit: roujo

Whatever it takes to get you moving...

Quote du jour:
I don't exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.
- Joan Rivers.

Exercise du jour:
Sigh. Kinda sad that I seem to require a regimented form of exercise, even if I do tend to swear/complain about it most of the time.

And they do work. Last time I tried to do a full push up, before I tried the modified form of the push up challenge, I could not manage even 1 full push up. Last week, before I got sick, I managed to pull off 7. So even modified forms of exercise can help.

Sit ups are not my favorite exercise, to put it mildly, but I figure it will give me something to do while resting my arms from the push ups.

Week 1 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 2
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 6
Set 2 - 8
Set 3 - 6
Set 4 - 6
Set 5 - 7

Week 1 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 2
Set 1 - 15
Set 2 - 18
Set 3 - 15
Set 4 - 15
Set 5 - 18

Done! I think the Earth's gravitation force increased between today and Monday; my body seemed a lot harder to lift than it was before.
p.s. Xenia? Push ups and sit ups are a great way to pass the time when you're waiting online for five friggin' hours to sign up for a marathon. (And BCB calls me* crazy?)

Photocredit: Swamibu

When it comes to running... I think I was adopted

Quote du jour: Whenever I feel like exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes.
- Robert M. Hutchins

Exercise du jour: Apparently this photo is of a baboon trying to teach its adopted child to sit upright in proper baboon fashion. Today I have scheduled 40 minutes of running, though not in proper baboon fashion.

Huh. Weird. After the blood, sweat and, well, more sweat it took to run on Sunday, today was 40 minutes of wonderful, I-can-do-it running. I wish I knew why some days are wonderful and others awful. There must be some formula I'm missing.


Photo credit: JeffMcNeill

Momentum, Credibility, and Virginity

Quote du jour: Credibility is very much like virginity. Once you lose it, it is impossible to regain.

I figure in this case momentum is like credibility. I've got no time to exercise, but I can't let that stop me. I've got to keep moving or I'll go under.

So, here's the thing. I was going to find some good exercise routine to adopt. But who has time for that sort of thing? Not I, certainly. But at the same time I can't just stop, for that would be fatal. Entropy and lethargy and all those physic-y things would take over. The best thing I can think of is to do the Full push up challenge while I try to figure out what to do next. The important thing is not to lose momentum. Or to pretend that I have some momentum to not lose.

Exercise du jour:
Week 1 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 1
(60 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 6
Set 2 - 6
Set 3 - 4
Set 4 - 4
Set 5 - 5

Week 1 of the 200 sit ups challenge

Set 1 - 15
Set 2 - 18
Set 3 - 10
Set 4 - 10
Set 5 - 14

The star is back! I dug it out of the closet and dusted it off. I do love the start of challenges, when I can get the exercise done before breakfast.

Not that I'm easily distracted or anything...

Oooh! Shiny new workout!


Exercise du jour: Okay, so it's not exactly new, but something I haven't done in awhile so it feels newish. Ran. A bit. Sweated rather more than a bit.

Update du evening: Dear Lord, I'm actually tired. Look, body, it wasn't that hard, was it?

What would Shakespeare do?

Damn virus, or whatever this is. I can't even stop off at the store on my way home without feeling completely wiped out. I do not approve.

I figured that this since is Shakespeare's birthday, he should have some words of wisdom. Alas, he's probably out partying 'cause I couldn't find any apt quotes. Did find the Shakespeare Insult Generator, which gave me the following:

Excuse du jour: Thou fobbing pox-marked carrion!

Note: this was not directed at you, gentle reader. I mean the evil virus or whatever it is that I am GOING to get over VERY SOON.

Nietzsche's girlfriend

Quotes du jour
What doesn't destroy me makes me stronger. - Nietzsche

What doesn't destroy me makes me lose weight. - Nietzsche's girlfriend (attributed)


Excuse du jour: Haven't eaten anything in two days. Don't want to eat anything now. If you put a box of chocolate in front of me, I'd say "No thanks."

The good part about being sick is that it does help you lose weight.


Photo credit: MigraineChick

Not waiting for a bouquet

Quote du jour:
Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
- Veronica Shoffstall

Exercise du jour: Walk, run, crawl if I have to. Aerobic exercise today there shall be.

Damn. Talk about jinxing yourself. I have spent the whole day in bed with a case of food poisoning, and not a cute one either. I can't figure out how to exercise without getting nauseous. I've heard it said that tomorrow is another day.

Wild camellias courtesy of Autan.

Monday. Again. Sigh.

Quote du jour: There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.
- Bill Watterson

Exercise du jour: Monday's are always a whirl of pressure and obligation. Let's try doing push ups -- the full version, and see how many I can squeeze in.

Note: I'm setting the goals small because I'm trying to get back into the habit of success. Then I'll stretch myself.

Cherry blossom world courtesy of Macartisan.


Did 30 situps, stopped when my back began to hurt. Did 7 full pushups. Did -- damn, I've already forgotten -- about 20 not-even-close squats

One step at a time ... but which way?

Quote du jour: I child-proofed my house, but they still get in.

Exercise du jour: I can't plan exercise for today. I don't know if family is coming to visit or not, and if they are then I don't know when they might come by. I just know it's probably a good idea to hide the breakables.

Having just done a road trip myself, I can understand the whys and wherefores and whoknows, but it's still frustrating. If nothing else, I'll do a lot of housework. And mowing the lawn, that's exercise.


Blues Crossroads courtesy of hankword.

Easter Friday

Okay, I suppose including this photo is a stretch. Easter island isn't really relevant to Easter. Besides, what is that woman doing? Trying to look like she's smooching a giant carved rock? Or hoping it's going to fall on her any minute?

Quote du jour: Life is too important to be taken seriously. - Oscar Wilde

Exercise du jour: More walking, and for that matter, more jogging.

Easter Island photo courtesy of Goron.

Easter Thursday

Quote du jour: When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. -Cynthia Heimel

Exercise du jour: Weight lifting with a Kettleball.

Easter bunster courtesy of annia316.

Easter Wednesday

Quote du jour: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain


Exercise du jour: Walking, again, and okay when nobody's looking a little jogging. I'm trying the stealth exercise approach here, trying to get my body used to regular jogging without actually making it think Life Is Hard or Why is she being so cruel to me or any other thoughts that sow the seeds of self-doubt in the back of my mind.



Easter bunny joke courtesy of isazappy.

I call this Thin Tuesday

I'm too lazy to go consult my French-English dictionary to find the proper French term for "Thin Tuesday." Not that it's a term any self-respecting francophile would use. Svelte, maybe. Time to get back into a regular exercise-and-post-about-it routine.

Exercise du jour: After I unpack, and find room for all the Really Necessary Stuff my mother decided to stuff into the car, I'm going to take a walk. If a little jogging creeps in, well, so be it.


Gorgeous "little liquid Easter eggs" courtesy of Steve took it.

Hi Atus!

All right, so that's a lame title. Whaddya want. I'm on the road, visiting family for Easter.

I've been gone. Oddly enough, people noticed. You guys kept looking at my blog; the guilt was becoming enormous.

My claim is that this hiatus was all part of my cunning plan. When work became so ovewhelming that all I did was work or sleep, posting exercise schedules or excuses fell by the wayside, as did a lot of other good things. I kept up -- pretty much -- with the eating mostly vegetables, though there were a few days where I followed the Fried Chicken diet, I have to confess. (But only chickens who were "raised in a human environment," as the sign in the store said. Poor chickens. Presumably that meant they had to sit in a cubicle for 12 hours a day and fight traffic to get home.)

Anyway, where was that paragraph going? It had a plan, then it got lost in a maze of dashes, parentheses, and tangents. Poor paragraph.

The point I was aiming toward was that when keeping up my Good schedule became impossible, I decided to make that part of my plan. Inadvertently, my last blog post was on Mardi Gras, the day before Lent started. So even though I went back to exercising regularly a couple weeks ago, I decided it would look more smooth and deliberate if I went back to posting as soon as Lent ended. Easter's a time of rebirth and stuff like that.

Somehow this seemed important from a psychological standpoint: hey, I may be struggling to keep organized, but I've got a plan and I'm kinda following it!

Exercise du jour: 50 minutes on my mother's motorized treadmill, watching cable television. Since I have neither cable TV or a fancy motorized treadmill at home, this is going to feel luxurious. Then it's the drive back to Oregon.

Easter tomb photo courtesy of Doughnut Diva.

You call this Fat Tuesday?

Walked 3 miles.
In the rain.
Uphill both ways.
Lugging a laptop that got heavier with each mile. Must be all that water.

Mardi Gras. Huh.




I still get the star. Because I said so.



Photo courtesy of flickr.

Self-pity raised to an art form

I can pout better than a Super Model.

Time to stop feeling sorry for myself. I've caught up a bit on sleep, definitely caught up on food, and somewhat caught up on work.

Exercise du jour: Half an hour of the new yoga DVD.

Merry's Exercise Routine

Methinks time to rethink my exercise strategy.

[Photo credit:Roadsidepictures]

Happy, happy, happy... ish...

Exercise du jour: One more time, let's try Rania's personal trainer DVD, arms and abs.

Recycling electrons

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing - that’s why we recommend it daily. —Zig Ziglar

I'm recycling both the quote du jour and the picture du jour. Because it's good to recycle, even electrons.

And because I needed a good motivation quote.
And because I need to look at something beautiful, like how my yard will look in another couple months. Hopefully.

Exercise du jour: 45 minutes running at an easy pace. (What kind of a schedule do you call this, Merry? One I just made up. I'll see how it goes.) I'll try running indoors, see if it's less depressing. Follow up with Rania's personal trainer DVD, flexibility section.
Priorities: 1-work 2-sleep 2-1/2 food. The sad thing is that I'm not the one putting in the really long hours at work. I'm getting really tired of this.

Thinking Petty thoughts

Quote du jour: “You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does...” - Tom Petty

... sigh... maybe I could go back to school... again... oh hell. What would I do with a Ph.D? If you get one, then you're condemned to teach, right? The one thing I've always been sure of is that I don't want to teach. Ever. At all. Really. From the time I was a wee lass I've known this. (Did I mention that I was raised by teachers? Who were my parents, conveniently enough. When I was small, I thought the whole world got summers off. Came as quite a shock when I realized the truth.)

Exercise du jour: Rania's personal trainer DVD: arms and abs

Exercise fail. Where is Lori when you need someone to blame?

The real reason you're late for work

more animals

Exercise du jour: 30 minutes running, sprints. Follow up with Rania's flex training.
Walked 3.5 miles instead. Not feeling well.

The world's cutest camera-shy dog

This is a test of the Merry Broadcasting System.

I've never -- does it show? -- tried videotaping anyone before. Everyone tells me I'm too soft-spoken, but I never realized how soft my voice was until now.

Also, Tanji is perhaps not the best subject for a video interview -- she hates cameras. Beautiful dog, but you'll have to take my word for it. As soon as she sees a lens, the tail goes down, the ears go flat, and she gets this plaintive look in her eyes. Bad Merry, bad.



Note: I originally planned to shoot her wearing her half-knit sweater, but it kept falling off. I'll save that treat for a later date.

My social life at work: definite progress

A grunt!

SilentMan, who has worked at a desk 10 feet away from me for nearly 4 years, but has never spoken to me,* almost broke his vow of silence! He was coming out of the break room as I turned the corner and we almost ran into each other. I said "Excuse me" and he opened his mouth -- for a moment, a thrill of anticipation ran through me -- and he gave a half-uttered grunt.

Wow.
This is progress.


*To be fair, he never speaks to anyone else either. For that matter, he rarely leaves his cubicle. I have no idea what he actually does for the company, but it must involve speaking to someone somewhere sometime. Though I suppose hardware engineers don't /have/ to communicate much as a whole.

Exercise du jourRania's personal trainer DVD, abs and arms. Going light on the arms, after yesterday's 100 push ups.
Walked 2.5 miles instead.

So now what?

One thing I learned from doing the 100 push up challenge was the importance of form. It was so much easier to do the push ups, even the modified "girly" form, if the core muscles around the back and abdomen kept the body straight.
I was not happy with the way the core muscles slacked off in their duty. So that's my next challenge, to find a way to improve the core muscles.
I looked at the 200 sit up challenge and the 60 push ups in 60 seconds one, but they don't really float my boat. I hate sit ups anyway. If I'm going to be lying on the ground, I'll be floored, bored, and in general not motivated to work out.
The problem I see is that without a challenge like one of the above, there's no easy way to measure the improvement. Still working on that.
For this week, I plan the schedule thusly:
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday - run. Throw in sprint if feel inclined. Then follow the non-cardio portions of Rania's Personal Trainer DVD.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday - Rania's Personal Trainer DVD. Concentrate on arms & abs.

Plus, I'm adding another challenge, this one food related.
I always start the week with good intentions, but I've noticed that by mid-week it's the hell with good intentions, just do what it takes to get through the day. So I'm trying to factor in prep time each night to pack a lunch. If I pack it (and remember to take it, important part there) then I'll eat mostly vegetables and healthy stuff.

Done! 30 minutes slug-speed jogging, with 3 baby sprints thrown in. My calves hate me when I do sprints, but it does feel good when I stop.

100 push ups, 2 arms, 1 Victory

Done!
Well, I think it counts anyway.
I was so eager to see the end of this push up challenge that I went ahead without resting up before the final test.
I suppose I did cheat somewhat. After the first 30 I took a ten second rest to stop the burning in my triceps. Then another ten second rest after 20 more. Then after 15 more. By the time I got to 80 or 90 push ups, it was a ten second rest after 10 push ups. But I don't care. I did 100 push ups, with less than a minute of rest in between. So I am counting myself done with this.
Which is good, because I really need to find a new challenge.

Right after I celebrate.

Want to join me in the Snoopy dance?


P.S. I just now found a site where lots of people list their progress on the 100 push up challenge. Le sigh. Wish I'd known about that earlier.

Is the end of the push up challenge in sight? Puh-lease?

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Oh I really hope we're there yet.

Day 3, week 6 (thank you God) of the push up challenge

set 1&2 13
set 3&4 17
set 5&6 16
set 7&8 14
set 9 max (at least 50)
Done! Well, I did the push ups on Saturday. On Friday, I did my regular 3 miles brisk walking. However, I don't feel ready to do 100 push ups in one fell swoop. Maybe I could do it in several fells swoops with a few seconds rest in between? Would that still count? (Oh listen to me. Like I'm going to be graded on this test. That's the trouble with all that eddication -- gives you a guilt complex.)

I made it to Thursday...

One more day to Friday. I can make it. I think I can, I think I can...


Exercise du jour: 30 minutes running, 4 sprints thrown in for laughs. Hopefully.

Done. Sorta. Ish.
I have invented a new form of exercise. It's called plogging: half plodding, half jogging, half-assed.
Plus, I did 3-1/2 miles of brisk walking. Maybe I shouldn't bother to fix my car; walking to and from the Max is starting to constitute my main form of exercise.

Train wreck courtesy of Flickr.

The Ben Franklin approach to weight loss

Early to bed, early to rise
Your scale will show a pleasant surprise
- Ben Franklin (attributed)*

Late to bed, early to rise
Won't shed the fat off of these thighs.
- Merry

I know better, I do. I realize short-changing myself on sleep for this long is counterproductive as far as weight loss is concerned. Maybe I'll get laid off, or the company will fold, or the workload will lighten up and I can get some sleep.

Day 2, week 6 (at last!) of the push up challenge

set 1&2 14
set 3&4 15
set 5&6 14
set 7&8 10
set 9 max (at least 44)
Whew! Did it. Plus, 3 miles brisk walking. And now I'm off to sleep!

*Attributed in this case translates to totally-made-up-because-it-sounded-good

Help! My dog believes in equal rights...

I knew I shouldn't have let her watch so much PBS.

My dog is currently outside, refusing to come inside.
It is night time.
It is freezing cold.
She is refusing to come in.

Yes, I could make it a command, and being a well-brought-up German Shepherd, she will obey a direct command -- with a Look that makes it perfectly clear what she thinks of the command. But I really don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. (Unless I have to, e.g. "You will let the vet stick that thermometer there.")


She's very happy to see me when I come outside, licks my hand, wags her tail, fraternizes and enjoys my company. But -- here's the thing. Because I'm so paranoid about keeping these gleaming refinished hardwood floors clean, I want her to come in the back door, onto the linoleum so I can wipe off her paws if they're dirty. She wants to come in via the sliding glass door directly onto the wood floors. Can you believe she's staging a sit out over that?

Sometimes I think she does things like this because she's trying to test my limits, see how well she can train me.

Is there a dog psychologist in the house?

Update du Dog: After 24 hours, she has decided she wants to come inside again. She keeps giving me a Look, so I think she's still plotting something. It's a hard life, being a dog. Training humans is thankless task.

Exercise du jour: 45 minutes running at an easy pace.
Exercise fail. Damn. It's pretty early in the week to have to choose between exercise, food, and sleep. If I could find a way to eat in my sleep, I'd be doing much better.

Happy thoughts? On a Monday?

Day 1, week 6 (woo hoo!) of the push up challenge:

set 1 25
set 2 30
set 3 20
set 4 15
set 5 max (at least 40)

Done! Plus, 2.5 miles of brisk walking. Much easier to keep up a brisk pace when it's freezing cold outside. Something good to be said about winter!

Do I look like God's pinata to you?

I must have some cosmic 'whack me with a metaphysical baseball bat' sign put on me when I wasn't looking.

And I ain't sweet and full of candy -- that's my last working brain cell you hear rattled around inside my head.

And I swear if I don't get a day off soon I'm going to fall off the exercise wagon and go huddle under the blankets until the world goes away.

And I might even whine a bit, in a self-pitying way.

Like this.

Exercise du jour: Well fine. Thirty minutes of running, with three sprints thrown in, if I feel like it, which leaves 27 minutes for feeling sorry for myself, thinking negative angst-ridden thoughts, and whining to the dog about how hard life is. Hey, it's a schedule.
The nice thing about my schedule is that it's flexible. Went outside and ran half the distance, then jog/walked the rest. Tried to run some more indoors tonight; the calves were against it. Feels like a FAIL, but I'm going to count it because what the hell; it was still exercise. Would love to figure out why some nights are fabulous and other nights it all seems completely futile.