Grown Up Things June 24, 2009

I’m sitting at work right now, and I’m meal planning. Cody and I tend to eat out A LOT, and it’s bad for our budgets and waistlines. So, I’m going grocery shopping after work with meals in mind and only buying enough fresh food to make those meals. I’m so terrible about buying fresh, perishable food and watching it rot in my kitchen. I’m such a food and money waster… it’s awful!

A big reason I’m really trying to eat out less is to save money. I’m not a big shopper, and I don’t feel like I do a lot of frivolous buying. But I do spend a bigger portion of my income on food than I should. Because we eat out so much, I end up wasting even more money when our groceries spoil. We need to really save money because we’re seriously looking into buying a house. I’m going to (try to) get pre-qualified for a home loan tonight, and we looked at a house last night. I’d really like to get into a more permanent housing situation where we have control over the space. While our landlord is really great, I don’t like being at the mercy of his or his handymen’s schedules. We are currently wasting A/C energy because for the second time in a week a window is broken in our back door. It would just be nice to be able to deal with issues like this at our pace instead of relying on someone else.

I’ve been asked to be in Cody’s younger brother’s wedding next summer. I will be one of 10 bridesmaids. This wedding is going to be enormous! On Saturday, Jacy’s (the bride) mom is fixing us all breakfast and we’re going to look at and try on bridesmaids’ dresses. While I’m excited for breakfast, I am dreading having to try on a bridesmaid dress. I, still, have not gotten my butt in gear and started working out regularly. While I constantly wish to be in better shape, I set the goal for myself a while back to lose the weight by the time my friend Bonnie gets home from the Peace Corps. She lands in KC in mid-September. If I can pull this off, I’ll also be in shape by the time we have to actually order the dresses for the wedding (December). I need to be a frickin’ grown up and just suck it up and do it!

Jillian Michaels, it would be great if you came to my house every morning for the next month and got me moving. I’d appreciate it!

June 10, 2009

I need to…

• toss out all the junk cluttering up my house
• get the stuff that’s left organized in some way
• create a workout schedule and stick to it
• cook at home and ditch the junk food… mostly
• clean and do laundry more regularly

I often feel that I accomplish very little on a day-to-day basis. And while, when thinking about things, the big pieces seem like the most important ones, it’s really all the little things we do that add up to who we are and determine how our behaviour is characterized. I feel like people look at me and see me as someone who is lazy, doesn’t care about her body or health, not fun, and doesn’t mind living in piles of dirt or dog hair. I don’t think I’m that person at heart; at least, I don’t want to be. I want to be someone who lives a healthy lifestyle, can take pride in her home, and knows how to have fun but isn’t crazy.

Maybe after I eat my scrambled eggs tonight, I’ll work on the hall closet. I spend so much money on personal care products, and most of them are sitting half-used in that closet. It’s time to get rid of them and make space for more useful items. But we’ll see if it happens tonight… after scrambled eggs, I might just crash!

Summer Reading Book List May 20, 2009

I went through my GoodReads to-read list and picked out items that I own but haven’t read to read this summer. I have to double up at the end to fit in all the titles. Here’s the list:

#1 (5.24 – 5.30) – finish these books… Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin, Something Blue by Emily Giffin, Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox, Q & A by Vikas Swarup

#2 (5.31 – 6.6) – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

#3 (6.7 – 6.13) – Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

#4 (6.14 – 6.20) – Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

#5 (6.21 – 6.27) – The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

#6 (6.28 – 7.4) – 1984 by George Orwell

#7 (7.5 – 7.11) – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

#8 (7.12 – 7.18) – The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

#9 (7.19 – 7.25) – The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

#10 (7.26 – 8.1) – Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

#11 (8.2 – 8.8) – A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

#12, #13 (8.9 – 8.15) – Election by Tom Perotta, A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl

#14, #15 (8.16 – 8.22) – The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll

My Summer Reading Challenge May 20, 2009

The library I work at, like most public libraries, hosts a program for kids during the summer to encourage them to read. Since I’m technically too old to participate, I thought I’d challenge myself  right here on my blog. In our program, the kids have the option to meet one of two goals: read 500 pages or 15 books. Since I won’t be reading 10 page books, I should probably lean toward the goal of 15 books. That means I’ll need to read quickly because, starting next week, I’ll only have 13 weeks until I go back to school (aww, man!). The first week (which may include the rest of the current week… I’m a cheater) I will use to try and finish the 4 or 5 books I’m reading. Terrible. I’ll try to figure out a *tentative* lineup of summer reading material and post it here.

Now I’m off to Cancun Fiesta Fresh to get some guacamole for dinner… chips too, don’t worry. Yummy!

My Thursday Night May 14, 2009

If my motivation doesn’t flee me come 5:30pm, here are the plans for tonight:

a run around the neighborhood (maybe with a doggie friend)

making and eating black bean soup for dinner

3 hours of Lost season finale awesomeness!! so excited!

I’ve really been a flip-flopper on this whole exercise thing. Some days I think I want to be a runner, others I want to work out just enough to be fit and that’s all. But the more I think about it, I want to be an athlete. Even if I never join a team or play an organized sport, I want to feel like I’m an athlete. I don’t want to be afraid to play a game. Over the weekend, I joined Cody and his brothers (albeit briefly) for a backyard game of homerun derby. Granted they were tennis balls and Stefan was lobbing them a bit, I knocked two of them about 2 backyards away. And it felt good. I liked feeling like I could keep up with them. I want to feel that all the time.

30 Day Shred – Day 1 May 4, 2009

And so begins yet another attempt to whip myself into shape.

I bought this DVD about 6 weeks ago. I did the “easy” workout once, and I was sore for 4 or 5 days. That’s how out of shape I am, and how promising this DVD seems. I haven’t worked out today, but since it’s only a 20 minute workout, I’m going to try to do it when I get home (around 9pm). If I can do this DVD at least 3-4 times a week, if not every day, I think it could really help me.

As far as diet is concerned… baby steps. All of these changes need to be lifestyle changes, not temporary changes for weight loss. And I don’t think I can stick to anything drastic for any extended period of time (nor would I want to). I’m going to gradually incorporate more fruits and vegetables and decrease the amount of processed food I eat and sugary drinks I drink. Today wasn’t great on the food front, but I’ll give it another go tomorrow.

I have a hard time being social and making friends, and I think at least part of that problem stems from being uncomfortable in my own skin and not liking the way my body has changed over the last 5 years or so. I am also very aware of how unhealthy it is for me to be carrying this extra weight, especially in my midsection. I need to get healthy so I can enjoy my friends and family for a long time.

If I can quit Facebook for over 40 days, I would think I would have the willpower to do a 20 minute workout each day for 30 days. We shall see…

Day Away from the Library – Part II May 1, 2009

I finished working on my tasks around 6:34pm. Here’s how the list went:

1. do a major cleaning job on the bathroom
 I had to spend a lot of time cleaning the shower and tub… it was not clean. The bathroom is pretty clean, but could still use a really good deap clean sometime soon.

2. do laundry… clothes, towels, sheets
 Our comfy bed with nice, clean sheets. I didn’t get around to washing towels or clothes, but I’ll be home alone tomorrow night.

3. bake a loaf of bread
 It looks and smells like bread, but I haven’t tasted it yet. It took a lot of time, so I don’t know that I’ll do this everytime we need bread, but it’s nice to know I’m capable (at least, I am so far. I’ll know for sure at the taste test).

4. bake some cookies (ginger or chocolate chips?) — After all the time it took to make the bread, I just didn’t have it in me to make the cookies. Maybe sometime tomorrow night.

5. do dishes
 Nice clean sink! No dishes to wash! Hooray!

6. visit One More Cup
 Good coffee and excellent cheese herb biscuits. It’s nice to have a neighborhood coffee place where I know people and that uses good, local ingredients.

7. finish reading Always Looking Up (Michael J. Fox) — I didn’t get a chance to read today. I thought about taking my book to the coffee shop, but I wouldn’t have been able to read anyway… I spent the whole time chatting with some friends that work there, as well as one of the owners.

Day Away from the Library May 1, 2009

It’s my turn to work a weekend at the library. Fortunately, when I have to work a Saturday, I get Friday off. So I’m at home right now, in my pajamas, watching Cody clean his filthy bike and listen to NBA Playoffs coverage on SportsCenter. I’m hoping to accomplish some things today, since the weather and Cody’s work schedule nixed my plans to go to the zoo. Here’s today’s to-do list… I’m hoping to update later with what actually got done.

1. do a major cleaning job on the bathroom
2. do laundry… clothes, towels, sheets
3. bake a loaf of bread
4. bake some cookies (ginger or chocolate chips?)
5. do dishes
6. visit One More Cup
7. finish reading Always Looking Up (Michael J. Fox)

It’s currently 9:37am. If I get started soon, I might actually complete the list. Here we go…

(Lots of) Love and (Lacking) Commitment April 22, 2009

For Lent, I gave up Facebook. And it was a success. I did not get on Facebook one single time for the duration of Lent (over 40 days). Now, if I could only apply the same commitment and strength of will to other tasks.

I can’t get up in the morning to do anything other than get ready for work. I even have a hard time doing that. I feel like that would be the best time to work out, but no matter how many days in a row I set my alarm for 5:30am (which allows me to hit snooze once or twice), I never get up and do anything. I don’t smoke or do drugs, and I rarely drink. But aside from these virtues, I know that I live an unhealthy life. Little to no exercise, poor quality of food, and too-large portions all add up to one not-so-healthy 24-year old girl. I need to get to a point where I feel healthy on the inside, and appreciate the way that healthy feeling makes me look on the outside.

I’m always daydreaming about how great I would look and feel if I were healthier. I imagine myself running without huffing and puffing, chasing Brooke and Bosco around the dog part without looking like a fool, wearing clothes that fit both my body and my personality. I am happy in my relationship, but every now and then it’s nice for someone you don’t know to tell you how nice you look. I don’t really get that anymore. Trust me… I don’t like being hassled by random people about anything (which is why work can be so trying at times), but sometimes it’s nice to hear that you look nice from someone other than your boyfriend or parents.

This is something I’ve been struggling with for many years now (and written and deleted many blog posts about). I just haven’t found the answer yet.

Anywho… I’ve been looking at fashion sites a lot lately, trying to determine what “my style” is. I don’t really have a name for it, but I love things that are classic, vintage (1920s – 1960s are years of prime interest), casual, and maybe a little indie-/hipster-ish (nothing too hipster, I’m not cool enough). I was looking at Isaac Mizrahi’s book How to Have Style the other day, and in it Mr. Mizrahi has each woman he assists put together a board of things that inspire them; these inspirational images and items then became the inspiration for their respective styles. I’m going to make my own inspiration board… right here!

Oliver Peoples Candice sunglasses because they’re simple and beautiful

Reese Witherspoon for her sense of self

Audrey Tautou for her quirkiness and innate French style

Edun by Ali Hewson and Bono for their dedication to the environment and those who are less fortunate

Coco Chanel for her ideas of simple style and beauty

Natalie Portman for her talent, brains, beauty, and concern for people around the world

Tina Fey for her sense of humor and unabashed geekiness

Salvador Dali for expressing himself in a new, visually astounding way

Jhumpa Lahiri for writing amazing stories that make me feel so connected to a place I have only dreamed about

Lance Armstrong for fighting the battle and never giving up

Converse Chuck Taylors for being comfy, casual, and cute with almost everything

I think I’m done for now. That ended up with more people than I initially planned, but, oh well. Maybe I’ll come up with more things later.

Books! Books! Books! April 16, 2009

Here’s a little survey about books and reading habits. Feel free to fill it out yourselves!

Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback? I like harbacks, but they’re hard to carry around. Trade paperbacks are sturdier than mass market, but if I’m feeling cheap I’ll buy one anyway.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? I feel like Borders is half a percent less corporate, but I have a membership to Barnes & Noble that I never have to pay for (in return, I share it with my immediate family). If there was a great local bookstore for all ages near me, I’d go there. There is an awesome children’s bookstore close by, Reading Reptile. Everyone should check it out!

Bookmark or dog-ear? Bookmark! I HATE my books being dog-earred.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar? It depends on my mood, and my budget. I like the feel of a brick-and-mortar book store, but online is so convenient, and often less expensive. Online, I like to browse Chronicle Books, too.

Alphabetize by author, or alphabetize by title, or random? Right now they’re all thrown onto random shelves in different rooms. I really need to organize them somehow. Other than putting all school books in the office/spare bedroom, I’ll probably try to group by genre and then alphabetize by author.

Keep, throw away, or sell? Keep, but I’m leaning toward donating or selling the ones I won’t reread. But so many of the books I own I haven’t read yet, so I won’t have to deal with that anytime soon.

Keep dust jacket or toss it? I keep them. Now that I am the official library book-mender, I should start putting clear protectors on all my own dust jackets. But that’s a lot of extra work…

Read with dust jacket or remove it? If I’m just reading it at home, the dust jacket can stay on. But if I’m toting the book around, it’ll eventually come off. They tend to get torn up if they get tossed about in my bag.

Short story or novel? It depends on my mood.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I’ve only read Harry Potter, and the movies are better, so I pick Harry Potter.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? I try to make it to chapter breaks, or at least paragraph breaks, but sometimes the tiredness overwhelms me.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Lately I’ve been in more of a “Once upon a time” mood, but I’d like to get back to more serious fare. Although, it doesn’t have to be stormy in all serious books, right?

Buy or borrow? I used to primarily buy, but now that I have to pay all my own bills, I read a lot more from the library. But I still buy some, especially my favorite authors.

New or used? New, generally, but I’m not opposed to used.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse? I really enjoy browsing. I like feeling like I’m the first person to discover a wonderful new novel or a heart-wrenching and witty non-fiction. But, I do read things that have been recommended to me from time to time. I don’t read a lot of reviews, but as I trudge forward in my professional life that may have to change.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? If there isn’t a continuation of the story in another book, then a cliffhanger would be miserable! I generally prefer tidy endings, just to have that sense of closure. But sometimes a messy resolution can prove to be more interesting.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading? I try to read at night, but I inevitably fall asleep without reading very much. I like reading in the afternoon during my lunch break, but I think that’s more because it means I’m not working than because it’s afternoon. I think I’m at my most comprehensive in the late morning, but the days that I get to read at the time are few and far between.

Stand-alone or series? Probably stand-alone. I don’t mind series, but I don’t read a ton of them. I also like a combo of the two: series novels that can stand on their own as well.

Favorite series? Like I said, I haven’t read a lot of series. When I was a kid, I loved the Encyclopedia Brown books, but that was more serial than series, per se. I do enjoy the Harry Potter novels, which I didn’t start reading until college (maybe late high school).

Favorite children’s book? I really don’t know. I can’t think of one. I haven’t looked at a children’s book (on the inside, anyway) in about 16 years or so.

Favorite YA book? I love The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It’s amazing.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I really enjoyed Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy. It discusses the over-sexualization of women and how some have now embraced it as a new form of feminsim.

Favorite books read last year? Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. She is an unbelievable author.

What are you reading right now? Q&A by Vikas Swarup (you may know it as the book that inspired Slumdog Millionaire, which is now the name under which the book is being published. blech.). I’m also in the middle of Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin… it’s the second novel in his Detective John Rebus series. And because my attention span is equal to that of a fly, I’m about 1/3 finished with Always Looking Up, Michael J. Fox’s latest book.

What are you reading next? I have a ton of stuff checked out from the library, and about a billion things at home I need to read. I’m thinking about tackling Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (yes, I’m THAT slow).

Favorite book to recommend to an 11-year-old? Maybe 11 is too old, but I enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was 19. Pretty much anything by Roald Dahl is good.

Favorite book to re-read? I haven’t really re-read much, but I think I’m going to re-read The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies sometime this summer.

Do you ever smell books? Sometimes at work, to determine if I need to make a patron pay for it or not.

Do you ever read primary source documents like letters or diaries? Infrequently.