Today Starts Another New Chapter (or Two) In My Story

It's finally here! Tonight at 6pm, I will begin my Captain's Class. I am nervous, excited, anxious, curious, full of hope, and ready to embrace the challenge. I am looking forward to learning new things, meeting some new people, and to devote almost everything I have to this endeavor. Thanks again to all who made it happen and now it's up to me to succeed and make myself, as well as all my believers, proud.

I am also starting this new chapter as an engaged woman. It happened last week. Eric and I will be getting married on August 10. We decided to do it AFTER Lollapalooza weekend (I don't want to be downtown with thousands of suburban teenagers), and the 10th is fitting because August is the month in which we first met, and it is the day of Drum Corps Internationals World Class Finals. Eric introduced me to DCI and all things drum corps. We are going to get married at City Hall, then probably wander over to the Riverwalk and take some pictures with the water taxis, then join some friends and family for drinks/a light bite somewhere and end the day with the Wendella fireworks cruise. These plans are preliminary, except for the getting married at City Hall part, and I am open to any ideas or suggestions people might have.

The path to getting to this point hasn't been smooth and it hasn't been easy, but it has made for a very interesting and full life. Sure there have been tears, arguments, times apart, doubts and problems. Throughout it all though there has been laughter, happiness, adventures, and most of all love. This rings true for Captains Class and for getting married.

I'll be blogging more with class and wedding plan updates. I hope you'll enjoy following along as the story continues to unfold.

Creative Workouts

So this week I haven't been following my 31-day challenge workout routine at all. The first day I had to watch a 10 minute video on how to do a 1 minute yoga pose and figured that if it was that complicated, maybe I'm not ready for it.

I've continued on with my stretching and I've been doing other things which may not seem like workouts but are definitely burning calories and keeping me moving for at least 15 minutes or more at a time. One was making a pound cake for a friend of mine. I had to use a hand mixer to beat the mixture for at least 10 minutes, which worked out my arms. I also had to do many dishes since the recipe called for each component to be in it's own bowl. I also just used a spoon to mix hot chocolate mix into some of the batter along with stirring in some chocolate chips. I also used a back and forth motion with the spatula to smooth the batter into a bread pan. I've cleaned out the litter boxes which involves bending and lifting and then taking stairs to throw the debris out. I've done lots of dishes including heavy bowls and I've actually done some of the dishes while balancing on one leg or another. I've made my bed every day, tucking in sheets and smoothing out the duvet. I scraped about half an inch of ice off of my car. I swept the living room and even moved furniture to get under things, and moved a 6 foot ladder into another room. I shook out the welcome mat and the bathroom rug. All of these don't sound like exercise and they aren't in the traditional sense, but they are doing something rather than me just sitting on the couch all day.

I've also really craved fast food this week, especially today, but I have stuck to my guns and cooked meals for myself every day instead. It saves money and is healthier in the long run. I did go out to lunch with a friend on Thursday but we just had a couple of appetizers and those were relatively healthy.

Although I've felt a little guilty for abandoning my challenge, I am proud of myself for doing something rather than nothing.

Low Impact My...

As I mentioned yesterday, I am doing this 31 day fitness challenge. It is from "Thrillist" which sends out daily emails about restaurants and things to do in your city, etc. I'm probably a few years older than their major demographic, but I saw this fitness challenge and it said I didn't need to join a gym or buy any special equipment so I thought I'd give it a try.

Yesterday went well. Today, which is only day 2, was a bit more of a challenge. They called it "low impact lower body work." Well, maybe it's low impact if you are a 20 or 30-something who just happened to drink too much during the holidays and have worked out more recently than in the past 6 months. It was a circuit of 6 exercises that you were supposed to do for 45 seconds each, resting 15 seconds between the exercises and then a full minute after you completed the 6. You did this 4 times and the workout would take about a half an hour. The first exercise was "prisoner squats" where you put your hands behind your head while you squat. While I could do these with relative ease, it certainly got my heart rate going. Next was alternate lunges, which I could also do. Then I was supposed to plank for 45 seconds. Considering I only did it for 20 seconds yesterday, I figured I may skip this one and just double up on one of the other ones. Next one was standing on one leg for 45 seconds with your leg out behind you and your opposite arm stuck out straight. I used to have EXCELLENT balance. This one hurt. Luckily I stood closer to a wall so when I started to teeter, I could hold on and push myself back up. I was embarrassed, but since no one saw me but the cats, I guess it's ok. Next was something called "bird dog" where I was on my hands and knees and lifted opposite arm/leg outstretched ahead or behind me. I don't have carpets in my apartment, or a yoga mat so this one was incredibly painful and hard on my knees. I did it for about 20 seconds and gave up in favor of a stretch until I do it next time with a towel (or three) beneath me. Then was the oblique work. From the picture, I was supposed to sit down with my knees raised, feet on the floor and move back and forth with my elbows bent. Again, this was difficult because apparently I can't sit on the floor with my knees bent slightly and feet on the floor. But I pushed through.  

I made it through the workout. The planking was replaced with a stretch where I am trying to reach my toes (I figure by the end of the 31 days I can do it), and the bird dog was replaced with another stretch, but the other ones I did and completed the circuit 4 times. I was out of breath and a bit discouraged. I glanced at what they have planned for tomorrow and I'm not sure I'll be able to do it. 

I'm not a quitter however, and I will attempt to do my best each day with this challenge. I may have to improvise from time to time or replace ones I can't do with ones I can, but I will do my best. That's all I can ask of myself, especially since I've really not done any exercise for a long time. 

100 Words on Suicide

Random events on a bus ride home lead to unexpected conversations.
Discussions with a new generation,
Repeated from the same age as your fellow traveller is now.
Thought about it then.
Think about it now?
Too big a topic to be summarized before the light turns green.
One journey and the conversation ends with a wave and a smile from both.
As the bus door closes,
Wheels start turning, literally and figuratively.
Assignment. Challenge. Inspiration. PUSH.
Words chosen carefully or stream of consciousness...simply belief?
Public. Private.
Desperation. Cowardice.
Chemical imbalance. Irony.
Spiraling out of control. Attention.
Hopelessness. Selfishness.

Done.

Back to the Beginning

It's Memorial Day weekend, the "unofficial" "official" start of summer and I haven't posted anything since January. Typical. I could blame it on the fact that my laptop is genuinely dead now and I have to borrow Eric's, or I could blame it on working, getting used to California, or just plain laziness. But I'm not going to blame it on anything and I'm going to "get on with it."

I've been making some changes lately. I've started a "planking" challenge, where I'm stretched out on the floor on my elbows and tiptoes for a certain amount of time. At this point I'm supposed to be at a minute and a half. I can do about 46 seconds before my legs are shaking and my arms are screaming and I have to put myself back on the ground, but considering that just 16 days ago I could barely do it for 10 seconds, I think I'm making progress. I'm also doing 30 squats, 20 crunches and 10 "girl" push-ups every morning. So slowly, I'm getting into better shape, which is good. 

I'm also reading more. Eric's Mom sent me an Amazon gift card for my birthday so I was able to buy some more books and have been reading those at night and at lunchtime at work. I've always loved reading and am enjoying the fact that I am doing it more.

So now to writing more. I have issued myself another challenge. It's more of a goal than a challenge, but it will be challenging to accomplish so we'll consider it a challenge. When I started this blog things in my life were changing. I was living with someone for the first time in over 21 years and I was cooking in a kitchen that didn't have an oven. I survived that and even learned new things in the process. Now I have moved to a different state and am trying to get used to a new climate, a new grocery store, and a new job. I am learning something new every day about myself and about California. It's great. But when you move to the Los Angeles/Hollywood area...as they said in "Pretty Woman"..."everyone has a dream" and I think it's time to pursue my dream. I've been listening to podcasts a lot on the drive home from work, mostly "The Nerdist" from Chris Hardwick, "Adam Carolla" as well as "Dr. Drew," and the "WTF" podcast from Marc Maron. What I've learned from these podcasts (besides the fact that everyone in Hollywood used to have an alcohol or drug problem) is that you need to set small, realistic goals for yourself and grow from there.

So here's my goal...and one of them isn't small and realistic at all, but if I can accomplish the first one, then I'll be able to get to the second one with less trouble.  I want to cook dinner for Chris Hardwick and Benedict Cumberbatch. Now, these will be two separate dinners, and as I mentioned, cooking a meal for Hardwick will probably be a lot easier than getting Benedict Cumberbatch to have a meal with me, but it's a goal and being a stubborn Taurus, I'm going to try my best to accomplish this.

 Chris Hardwick lives in Los Angeles and is in town quite a bit. He's also monumentally busy, but he's got to eat, right? Chris has helped me in ways I'm not quite ready to get into yet, but let's just say he's been an invaluable guide to me in my personal life. I figure starting out with an email to him will be a start and probably the best way to reach him. I'd say I'd reach out to him on Twitter, but trying to invite someone to dinner in 140 characters right of the bat is a bit more of a challenge than I want to take. (He also has over 2.2 million followers.) I also know he's been eating a lot of vegetarian lately (his girlfriend is a vegetarian and she's invited to dinner as well). So that will be good. I'll start to cook more vegetarian meals for myself and Eric. Believe me, as much as I like to take pride in my cooking, I wouldn't invite over someone and have them be a guinea pig. So that's my first challenge and I'll keep you updated in the weeks to come as to whether I've gotten any response. I figure it may take me a year and I'm ok with that. One step at a time.

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch will be the next goal as a dinner guest. I'm probably going to have to give myself 5 years for this one. But hey, at job interviews they always ask you what your long term plans are...well, this is one. I first "really" noticed Benedict on "The Graham Norton" show when he was discussing Cumberbitches and the pictures comparing him to an otter. Then I saw him in "Star Trek: Into Darkness" and the wonderful series "Sherlock" where I will admit, I developed a major crush on him. Every since I was old enough to notice guys, I've been attracted to tall men with deep voices. (Good thing Eric falls into those categories). Mr. Cumberbatch is also very busy and doesn't come to Los Angeles very often, so that will be difficult, although if I could manage it, I'd cook for him in London in a heartbeat. This one will have to be one I'll have to be careful with as well, I don't want to be considered a "stalker" and in the first year, I'll probably only try to get some contact information and send a small, introductory letter. I'm willing to take my time with this to make it happen. It probably won't, but I am determined to try.

So that's it. That's what I'm going to work on and that's what I'm going to write about. I won't promise a timeline for writing as I can't seem to keep those, but I will say I'm going to try to keep a weekly update on my progress.

Back to the beginning. It's like cooking without an oven and I've already done that.