I'm Either Really Tired or This is Really Funny

I'll go with the latter because I read her everyday and she's a crazy woman.

Thanks for the Friday 'it's 10 minutes before I leave work so I will read blogs now' June!

Oh Good Morning!

Because I led you on

I just wanted to let you know that the elliptical has moved back to the bedroom because shiny curtains and elliptical do not both = relaxed luxury.

Elliptical in bedroom also forces exercising with books instead of tv. Harder, but, hell, when else do I have to read? I do a lot of reading from behind my eyelids so this actually might be a great move on the elliptical machine's part!

But I'm doing it. I'm using it as I expected to. I have successfully knocked down my tutoring schedule to two times a week (ok two times a week twice a month and three times a week twice a month, but still, better!). The weekends and these non-tutoring nights I am free to live like a normal person, eating dinner before 8:30 and actually exercising.

I am pleased as punch. That's it, isn't it?

Enhancements

Ok ready? 18 months after moving in, I finally bought some curtains.
Ok, two curtains. For one room. With two windows. Next to each other.

This was the least labor intensive with the most impact improvement I could have made. I probably could have even done this myself (though Savory Man did the, er, heavy screwing). All of a sudden it feels really luxurious in here!

Here are the befores. Mind you, This room doesn't need much. It had a high ceiling, crown molding, so much uncluttered space. And 4.99 mini blinds from Home Depot.


(and yes! that is said elliptical machine where I put in, wait for it, 45 minutes tonight!)
And this is the after. Aren't they royal?


Seriously, I couldn't have found better curtains (don't get me started on the story about how they didn't exist anywhere in the United States when I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and then how they showed up in Burlington and then how they couldn't find my order and then how I paid for them twice. Okay, you got me started.)!
They are 'apple' color, like Granny Smith apple color, with brown circles. Circles is a little bit of a theme around these parts. The area rug is apple green with brown circles. The big purple chair has swirly circles. You have seen the gold circle mirrors on the wall. I am pleased as pickles.

That's not the saying is it?

My Elliptical Machine doesn't have a name

Suggestions welcome.

I took pictures for you this morning, but my computer does not want to talk with the upload cord. That being said, they are pictures of an elliptical machine. Mine looks just like all the others, so you can make yourself a mental picture.

Savory Man saved me $170 and put the thing together. There was some strange whirring at first and after I read the manual (it takes two, huh?)I found out that the whirring was a typical problem encountered in set up and some bolts just needed a little loosening to move some of the outside parts away from one another.

This is all just fodder around the real story. I have always belonged to the gym. Since I was a teenager, I've done what the good person does and have had a membership to the gym. That being said, a membership to the gym does not mean that Kristen goes to the gym. I think I have discovered that it's not the working out I don't like, it's the process of going to the gym that I don't like. Being ultra-efficient to the point of maybe needing something to control it means that I detest anything that makes me inefficient. Having to go up to the third floor after a day of work, change clothes, get water bottle and MP3 player, go back downstairs, drive to gym, park car, walk to gym, go up to gym and put outside clothes away, wait for machine, work out, put outside clothes back on, go to car, drive home, go back to the third floor is what is keeping me. And I can prove it.

Though it is admittedly the new year and I have a certain fervor for being good about working out, I can say that I have worked out more in the last two weeks than I have cumulatively in the past like 4 months. At least.

The machine is right there. Its presence perhaps hounds me a little and taunts me when I try to make excuses that I have to prepare for tutoring (of course on the couch in front of the tv. Because you know how easy it is to do SAT math in front of House Hunters.). I don't have to worry about what my tattered gym clothes make other people think or if there is something on my bum that people might be looking at. I don't have to worry about losing my machine if I have to run to the bathroom mid-workout. And I certainly don't have to worry about other people's sweat and germs. Just mine!

Last night was a perfect example of how I never would have gone to the gym but managed to motivate just enough to get a workout in. I actually did not have to tutor last night. I did have some prep to do but that shouldn't have overridden a 20 or 30 minute workout. So while I was cooking dinner, I got on. It ended up being just 20 minutes (which I am happy to say is actually getting 'easy' after 2 weeks)but it was 20 minutes more than otherwise would have happened.

The machine has a bunch of pre-programmed 20 and 30 minute workouts. I should really just be choosing the 30 minute workouts now that I'm back into it but they are full of hills and I get intimidated. That sounds ridiculous when I write it. It's a machine. I know I can hammer through 30 minutes on it. Honestly, buck up Kristen!

This machine too is part of the NordicTrac family. It has a card reader for the ifit personal training system. Normally I would be cynical about such add on features that are money grabbers from the manufacturers. But I've read up on it and I am really someone who could benefit from an automatic boost in time and difficulty. The cards have chips on them that lead you through 8 weeks of increased difficulty trainings. They're programmed for 3 workouts a week. Each time you get on the card knows to put you on the next workout. For 25 bucks, it's like an instant trainer. I'm going to go and get one and try for 8 weeks. I can't say whether it will be motivator or a detraction, I'll let you know.

For now though, like I said, I'm working out more than I have in a really long time. I DO feel better during the day. It's not necessarily helping me sleep better, and I still fall asleep really early every night, but it can only help my life in general.

You're Jealous

I got a fun pseudo-surprise in the mail today from my sister. Given my new male acquisition and my lack of case for my camera, I asked her to stitch me up a little something to carry both in. Carson has been living in the eyeglass case she made me. Look at his new home!


The case for my camera has a hook on it to go in my bag or, if I was so inclined, on my belt loop:


She sent other stuff too - another eyeglass case, a coin purse, another case for another Carson, and a wrist/keychain. You should contact her for your personal cases too!

It's been a good day

Honestly, last night I was getting sick of the coverage. I sick of hearing the weather report for Washington at 7 am and at noon. I was sick of hearing about the 50,000 porta potties. We watched religiously all day because even though it was tiresome, it was history and this is one of the biggest historical moments I will surely live through (throw in there the millennium and 9/11 too).

It's an incredible day. I am happy for us, I'm happy for America. I'm happy that we have declared that African Americans are no longer 3/5 of a person (original Constitution) but that they are actually complete people competent enough to run the free world. I'm happy that enough Americans wanted to take a risk, take a chance, and give this guy the opportunity to set us on the right path.

I think there's going to be resistance from within the Congress from the old boys' club. I heard Biden speaking at the lunch today about how things are going to be different and the systems that people are used to are going to be upturned. I think words need to be chosen carefully and egos needs to be patiently caressed. You can suggest change but you cannot change the behavior and ideals of those who have been managing this disaster for so long. Hopefully they'll just want to 'play the game'(as we used to say in the busses of the UMMB).

I hope, like a lot of people, that he can show change and convince the non-believers. I hope that people buy into this and start to believe what a lot of other countries and a lot of other cultures actually already know...that people need to work together to make change; that it starts at the very bottom and must happen at all levels; that it's time-consuming and often a slow process; that it takes deliberate decision-making and a lot of patience.

I saw in the recent Time magazine that a lot of the community groups that were created to get Obama elected have reorganized and are looking for ways to reamin sustainable and not only create change on their own levels (neighborhoods, communities, towns) but also prepare for 2012 when the marketing message to keep Obama in office will be way different than the message that was touted this time around. Good for them. That is true community organizing. I'm proud of them.

The New Man In My Life

Carson was a gift for a Christmas. I am a little behind on bringing the Carsons of the world into my life, basically because I generally don't buy things for myself that don't fulfill a need. But clearly other people in my life saw a need that I didn't, and now, I too, see that Carson has filled a need and has made my life easier already.

Carson really is amazing. Not only can he get me home from any house in the middle of nowhere when I'm tutoring, but he can tell me how long it will take to get home, how many gas stations are on the way, and how fast I'm going. He can show me the route in case the road is weird and his audio directions aren't complete enough. Though he sometimes says things that make me shake my head (because yes, sometimes I still know better), he still knows all the back roads and gets me to places I would otherwise have to Googlemap (and then subsequently leave the direction wherever I printed them) and still get lost with.

I sometimes feel bad because I make Carson angry by going my own way. "Recalculating," he says. But he says it in that voice that the voice mail lady uses when you have no messages, "You have no new messages. No one likes you! Stop checking your voicemail." Carson is like, "Recalculating. Did I tell you to go that way? Don't know you know how to follow directions? Why do you put me through this if you're not going to listen?". Sometimes Carson just doesn't understand that going through town at rush hour and sitting at every red light is going to take a lot more time than just getting on the Pike and going a more circuitous route.

Unfortunately, the cigarette lighter has never worked in my car. This obviously has never been a problem up to this point. But Carson gets tired really fast. Thankfully, he can charge on the computer but must be used deliberately in order to be useful and not die out in the car. Just another reason to start the down payment account for an eventual new car (automatic locks! automatic windows!).

I'm sure googlemaps and mapquest are sorry to see me go. And I'm such an excellent planner...this takes away part of my planning processes. I'm ok with it though. I've left my life up to Carson now whilst stuck in the woods in the middle of the night with no idea which way to turn and he's gotten me home.

The best part is personifying Carson and saying, "Did you bring Carson?", or "Is Carson charged?". Anything to make life a little more fun you know.

Nowhere to Run

Capitalism gone bad.

It's only snow

Get a brush, clean off your car and drive a little slower. Seriously.
You'd think nothing else was going on in the world today.

Three Things

I cannot find the cord to my camera to transfer pictures online. Lots of writing, not a lot of viewing. Sorry.

Please continue to pray and hope hard (whichever you do best) for my friends who need all the prayers and hope you can muster right now.

I had this salad for dinner last night. I personally ate an entire bag of romaine by myself. I want to share it with you in case the ingredients = heaven for you too.

Roquefort Pear Salad
(and by Roquefort we mean blue cheese, gorgonzola, or whatever is close to it!)

10 cups of torn salad greens (Boston or Romaine is best)
3 large ripe pears, pealed and cut into chunks (I didn't peel, still yuuummm!)
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 oz. crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese (4 oz. simply isn't enough, honestly)
1/3 cup sliced toasted and sugared almonds or pecans

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar
1.5 t sugar
1.5 t dijon mustard
1 garlic clove minced or crushed
1/2 t salt and pepper to taste

Combine and pour dressing over tossed ingredients.

Heaven.

Are you fascinated about my Elliptical Machine Stories?

Good. It continues.

So after my research which included going to Consumer Reports online and finding out what they suggest and then googling those models for real people reviews, I chose a Nordic Track and then found it on sale at Sears. So Saturday was the day. I had it in my head. Go to Sears, purchase elliptical.

Got to Sears during what ended up being a crazy afternoon out with Jody and got on the machine and was indifferent leaning towards, 'the console on this this looks cheap enough to make me change my mind'. However, being that I have undiagnosed ADD/OCD/control and ridiculousness issues (you know, from time to time) I thought, this is what you researched, this is the one. Buy it! Buy it!

So I did. And of course with everything else like the extended warranty (which my parents always hate, sorry mom!) the delivery, the set-up (I'd be damned if my screwing mistakes were going to make the warranty ineffective!) I paid another $400 for it. I wasn't upset or surprised but I still left indifferent about the purchase. This is annoying considering how much I've been thinking about it and my new svelte figure that is a few months down the road.

So after more thought during the day and overnight (you know in my sleep and all), I decided to look at Sports Authority. Savory Man asked me if I had tried the machine at Sears. Well, I DID try it, just not plugged in. Hmm. Ok, I see some issues now that we are bringing this up. Well, anyhow, the sales guy at Sports Authority was masterfully knowledgable about ellipticals and says he works all the time, has worked there forever, and puts all the machines together himself. For your knowledge, Reebok, Nordic Track, and Health Rider are all the same brand. In fact, after a confirmation trip back to Sears I realized that yes, they were basically the same machines I was looking at. HealthRider is the brand that is made for Sports Authority. Here's the one I chose. I realize this is probably a fascinating story for you to be reading.

But a little more on Customer Service. There was basically none at Sears. I was just another sale. Not that I asked (whoops) but no one plugged the thing in for me, made comparisons to other machines, told me the ins and outs of ellipticals and their opinions. I almost bought a smaller machine at Sports Authority which was less expensive. The guy there was awesome...he told me about the difference in the wheel being in front versus being in back, how this littler machine had no option to do hills, about resistance, and space, and stability. The warranty was way better too. It was the same price, but for another year and covers EVERYTHING soup to nuts such that the machine in 4 years, should anything break for any reason, the machine should still be like new in 4 years. Not a bad deal.

So how excited are you after reading about this to hear about the trials and tribulations of me making myself use this machine after all of this. This blog is going to be fascinating in the next 4 months!

It's Freezing in my office and other sundry topics

This morning I took out the recycling and because it wasn't done last week (in case there were returns that needed to happen we kept all the packaging), there was a lot. I made it in three trips. This would be well and good if my hair wasn't soaking wet, it wasn't 7 degrees out, and I didn't live on the third floor. I survived it all ( I suppose I could have dried my hair first but you know how I am when I get an idea in my head! Go! Go! Go!). However, my thighs now are burning like I just ran a couple of miles. I blame this on my very sedentary job and the fact that I don't know the directions to the gym anymore, despite recent posts to the contrary.

Along the same thread, tomorrow I am buying an elliptical machine. I figure that since I have trouble drumming up both the time and the motivation to get to the gym (and plus, I lost the directions) that I will do penance monetarily and just buy one for my condo. Sears is offering a no interest/no payments deal and the price is really good for a Consumer Reports best buy machine. Wish me luck that it doesn't collect dust.

It is freezing in my office. There was no heat on the entire floor this morning at 7:30. The heating on the floor improved during the day but not in my office and I have consequently been wearing my coat and scarf all day long. It's amazing my icicle fingers can even type at this point.

Think happy and healthy thoughts for dear friends of mine who are working through some scary baby stuff right now. Please think and pray as often as you remember!

Because this is historically the biggest day for people to quit smoking, we thought the helpline would be mobbed with callers today. It busy, but not overwhelmingly so. I always say that in this economy, if I didn't have a job or my mortgage had gotten canned, I would be smoking too. There's only so much you can do!

Meeting some friends for dinner tonight and then I'm going to snuggle in with my book. What really could be better for a Friday night?

No, Google, that is not what I mean