Update: 30 Day Exercise Challenge

Two weeks ago, I said I was going to exercise every day for the next 30 days. I know you are just quivering with anticipation. Did she do it? Did she lose momentum over Labor Day weekend? Did she sit on the couch and watch bad movies instead? And the answer is...

I have exercised for at least half an hour, every day, for the past two weeks. I know, this is only the halfway point, but still. I have exercised every day for two entire weeks. I am committed.

Do I enjoy it? No. Every time the way-too-cheerful guy at the gym wishes me a good workout, I want to kick him. But I still go. Partly because I swore I'd do it and partly because I'm trying to change the way I look at exercise. I've stopped trying to think of exercise as "fun".

Stay with me. The gym I go to, like most gyms, is covered with inspirational pictures of incredibly fit people climbing mountains and running marathons, with slogans like "Find your inner athelete".  The problem with that is I don't want to be an athelete. I just want to not be in a wheelchair when I'm in my seventies.

It's not like I haven't tried. I have taken part in a few of these endurance events over the years (the MS 150 bike ride, a half marathon, a century ride, competitive swimming) and to be completely honest, for me there was no glow of acheivement when I crossed the finish line. My thoughts were more along the lines of "Thank goodness that's over. Where are the showers?" (And can someone bring me a really big margarita?)

  

So I'm trying to mentally reframe exercise as the equivalent of flossing. You don't floss because it's fun, but  because you want to have teeth when you're older.  I find if I think of exercise as good hygiene and not something I'm expected to enjoy, I'm more likely to do it. 

It may not work for anybody else, but that is what gets me in the door. That and the thought of a big frosty drink afterwards (a girl's got to have some fun).

Praising the chorus

Today is Labor Day, a day to honor the contributions of the everyday working man and woman. So what better time to write about the workhorse of the floral world: baby's breath (aka Gypsophila or soapwort).

 

Baby's breath looks like an airy bush full of teeny, tiny carnations.  It is often used as "filler" to bulk out a composition of more expensive flowers, like roses, and because it is inexpensive, it's gotten a reputation of being tacky; a bouquet with a lot of baby's breath is a way of saying "I'm cheap".

 

But that is like saying only the stars of the movie matter. If the supporting actors, CGI, makeup artists, etc. aren't there, who do the stars interact with? What shows the stars off and gives depth to the composition?  People may go to a movie to see the star, but it's the supporting cast that allows the star to shine.

 

I have a love of "filler flowers" The overlooked, the workhorses. They are easy to find, they work with any color scheme,  and if you let them, they shine all on their own.

 

Seriously, who wouldn't love an airy cloud of white blossoms on their dinner table?  

 



Happy Labor Day everybody.

Lost Summer

Summer ends this weekend. Technically, I know that summer doesn’t end until the Autumnal Equinox (September 22^nd – mark your calendars) but there are other ways of marking time.  And in the US Summer starts on Memorial Day, and ends on Labor Day. 

Of course that’s the depressing way to look at it. It's also a beginning. It’s the start of the new school year, the new theater season, and (in Houston at least) it's the start of Fall Festival Season.

In the past week, I have received invitations to:

• Houston Hot Sauce Festival
• Bayou City Arts Festival
• Art4Life
• Houston Margarita Festival
• Metro Cooking and Entertainment Show
• Via Colori  
• RenFest

And did I mention it’s currently Houston Restaurant Week(s)?

Not that I object, it’s just that the flood of invitations, reminders, & save the dates is a little overwhelming. Also, I feel sad that I didn’t really do anything this summer. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I don’t have any stories to tell. I spent the summer going to work and making imaginary decorating plans for the house I bought.  This was very practical, adult and mature of me, but so very dull.  Thus, I’m feeling a sense of time wasted. 

I think I’ll devote an evening this weekend to the ultimate in summer recreation – lying under a tree with a big drink, pretending to read, watching the dragonflies and enjoying the day.

Momento Mori

In the interest of getting out of the house occasionally, I've joined a photography group. My first event was a visit to the Nation Museum of Funeral History.

There is all sorts of information about death rituals in various cultures, an entire installment on the invention of embalming, and another (huge) display detailing all the rituals that take place when they inter the Pope.  Did you know he gets three coffins, like an Egyptian pharaoh?  And they smash his ring with a hammer?  


detail of an English hearse

It would be a great place for a car nut. There is an impressive collection of hearses from all over the world, (including sleighs and the only hearse-bus) and the coffins are incredible. There is a glass coffin, a coffin built for three (long story) and the fantasy coffins from Ghana – which are carved and painted to look like whatever you want. You want to be laid to rest in a representation of your favorite vegetable?  They can do that. They had coffins shaped like leeks, crabs, lions, and an outboard motor (it even said Yamaha on the side). The Lucite coffin is like the tackiest Vegas souvenir ever. It has money imbedded in patterns in the plastic – so you can take it with you.

I was the only one in the group to take pictures of the gift shop.  What would they have in a Funeral Museum gift shop you may ask? skulls, death themed jewelry, chocolate-covered coffin candies, Dia de los Muertos stuff, and my personal favorite – undertaker Christmas tree ornaments. They are very nice, blown glass, dressed in black with a shovel in one hand and a scroll inscribed “Death Certificate” in the other. 

I'm in a contest with myself to find the tackiest souvenir ever made. (It's an excuse to prowl gift shops, really.) No winners here, unfortunately.  The miniature outhouse inscribed "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" was tacky, but a little too pedestrian. The undertaker ornament was actually too cute. A really tacky souvenir has to make you do a double take. Like the  wedding-themed toilet plunger I found a few years ago. I am not making this up. I'm not that creative. 


Boo!!

Years ago I went to a combination Graduation from Mortuary School/Sex Toy party - Official theme: "This Stiff Needs a Stiffie" (I have some very uninhibited friends.)  These might be the people who would appreciate an undertaker Christmas tree ornament, particularly if I got one with extra glitter.

So what's a month?

First, I apologize for the delay. I've been having technical difficulties with my computer. I still can't post pictures, but I can at least get to the dashboard. I have a technician coming to look at things this week, -fingers crossed!

Second, I'm going to take the advice of Matt Cutts and Try Something New for 30 Days. I first talked about this in February, if you remember. But getting burgled has a way of changing your priorities. I  think I'm settled enough now to get back to it.

I'm in a "shaking off the dust" cycle in my life.  I'm trying to pick up new habits/get rid of bad ones/get out of the house.  So last week I started exercise. I don't like exercising. I don't hate exercising. I just find it boring. That's why it used to take grades and a gym coach yelling at me to get me to do it.

When I lived in California, I used to go on hikes (hiking is a requirement of living in Northern California) and the hikers fell into two categories. The 'serious' hikers who are very aware of time, wear bodybuggs, and obsess about their heart rate dropping. (Step it up! If we don't make it to Pinchpenny Pass by 10:30 we'll never make it to Flyweight Falls by noon!) and the ones who just wanted to look at the scenery and have a nice time. I was in the second group. What's the point of going out into the glorious California scenery if you can't stop to take pictures and drink it all in?  And if there's a bar at the halfway point, so much the better!

Eventually the serious hikers started putting things like "This hike is for SERIOUS hikers only." on the sign up sheets.  Insulting, but it made life easier for those of us who just wanted to look at the scenery and meet new people.

But to get back to the point,  I keep hearing about all the benefits of exercise (increases bone density, makes you look younger, avoid arthritis, sleep better...) , so for 30 days, I'm going to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. I started on Thursday (the 23rd) and have managed to do my 30 minutes every day so far. I know 4 days doesn't sound like much, but it's the most consecutive days I've been to the gym in years.

Ch- ch- ch- changes

I've been away from the blog a long time. Here are the highlights of the past few months:

• My apartment was broken into and my cameras and jewelry were stolen.
• I bought a house
• I moved.
• My beloved cat of 15 years is gone (presumed dead)

As you can see, it's been crazy, and mostly depressing.  The biggest blow was losing Buddy. He was furry sunshine and not easily replaced.

If you want an exercise in frustration, try house shopping. It is not fun. It makes you reconsider moving. (It's not that bad. The oven works most of the time. I'm used to hearing the neighbors having drunken sex on weekends. They're hardly going to rob me a second time. etc.)   But I ignored all that and signed my life over to the mortgage company. (Only 29 years and 9 months to go!)

And I like the house. I do. It's really well laid out, it's comfortable. But I keep seeing things that need doing. Things that will cost money. I knew this, but it still a shock when you realize that you need to buy major appliances, pegboard the garage, buy a lawnmower and gardening equipment.

Still I've been depressed and bored and I wanted to shake up my life. I think this counts as a shake up, don't you?


I have a dining room!

Thirty Day Challenge

I've been thinking about shaking up my life for a few months. Since my last birthday, really. Which makes me a cliche (existential midlife crisis at 40 - am I right on time or what?)

I stumbled on this talk. The premise is to try something, anything, for 30 days. I like the idea. 30 days is a manageable unit of time. It's long enough to give an activity a real try, but not so long that you want to give up before you start. It's also the length of most months, which makes it easy to track.

So as part of my overall goal to "shake up my life", I am going to do some 30 day challenges.

30 Day Challenge #1:  10,000 Steps a Day

This is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. As I mentioned in my last post, all I do most of the time is go to work and go home. That gets me to about 3000 steps. Essentially, we're talking about tripling my activity level.  And there's no way to do this without going outside so I meet two goals: getting more exercise and getting out of the house. I even have a pedometer.