Be the change you want to see.

Had just over half a workout yesterday. Traffic conditions conspired against me getting to the gym on time.

Tal still hella kicked my ass though, ow, my quads... Ow the tails of my pectorals.

Lots of assisted squats and rowing using the straps and handles that hang down from the frame.
One exercise she had me do after some inverted rowing was where you hang in the full arm extension position, body is straight, heels on the ground. Body's hanging at about 45° to the floor. Normally from here you row up. This time she had me walk one foot about 8" back so my knee was bent, engage that leg for support, and the "row" was to open your arms like wings. Like doing flies with weights, but the effort to raise your body is in the pulling your arms straight back at shoulders height. Wow that was interesting!

Squats included squat coming up to toes, and squat coming up to hop up, land smoothly and into another squat. That was interesting too! Rough to do the first few times til Tal pointed out where I was having difficulty. I think I can do those again, without a problem.

And then yesterday I spent time with Nicole talking costumes for Burning Man, and mid afternoon I pinged M and N to see if they'd like company for dinner. It worked out well for me. I got fun friendly company for dinner, and got to leave the house free for Jeff to have some quality time. :)

One neat thing I noticed during the dinner engagement, was after this frustrating parking lot thing (had to go back and forth to my car multiple times when the pay station turned its nose up to my credit card)... The neat thing was casually jogging back to my car. Because I could. And didn't care who was watching. Probably helps that I was still wearing my gym shoes and shorts and (ahem) an appropriately supportive undergarment... But I did it. Just for fun, and maybe to show off a little. :)
*boggle*

I was thinking on the way home that it'd be interesting to challenge myself on the treadmill at the gym... See if I could run, say, for three minutes straight. And how many intervals like that could I do? Three running, one walking. Could I do that? Seems fun to try!

So there WAS one not-cool thing about dinner last night but that has to do only with the food.
The food was delicious, don't get me wrong. However I failed in my choices as a newly minted diabetic. One rainbow roll, one deep fried oyster (thanks for sharing, N!), one spicy hamachi hand roll, two unagi nigiri, a bit of iceberg lettuce in that slightly sweet peanut sauce salad dressing, and green tea.
So the massive amounts of sushi rice included in that tally sent my blood sugar levels thru the roof, sort of. Two hours after eating my score was 241. That's TWICE my post-meal average.

Dammit. I do love sushi rice but it certainly doesn't love me. Pfui.
Time for New Choice when I go for sushi.

Last thing, to end on a high note: the final cool thing about my day was getting trapped, or rather "trapped" in the parking lot, because I found the situation delightful!

A batería, a Brazilian drum corps, was playing at the far end of the lot, past my car. And then M, N, and I notice there's samba dancers, dressed in feathers and fringe and heels, starting to get organized behind the batería. They wind up playing and marching slowly/dancing, circling the lot, for like fifteen minutes. I loved it.

I posted a couple of crappy photos on FB, and one old friend says, "you didn't join them? Why not?" Argh stupid Engraved Invitation Syndrome. Eh. But it looked like enough fun that I'm going to look up the dance group (Samba Conmigo) and see if they do lessons.

So yesterday was A Good Day.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

Dinner helps everything be better.
Steak, tater tots, a lovely Zinfandel, some blueberries, should all help with my recent case of anemia.

Made it to the gym tonight!
Not a super long session, but I did some cardio, some weights (I have to eat greens and fruit only before next session, I ate buttered rice with cheese and herbs and got a very acid stomach) and finished up with light stretching.

Been over a week since my last gym visit, and the bod has been complaining about the lack. Got turned on to the chance of a blues dance event not far from here, every Thursday. I've never done blues dancing before, though I've watched others dance ( thinking of tshuma and dougygyro at Lark camp, and it's lovely, flirtacious, and sensual. Should be great, though taxing on thigh muscles.

Gotta date tomorrow. Really looking forward to it.

More dating, more dancing. Life is good.

Thankful:

1) gorgeous crisp clear sunny day
2) art supplies
3) idea for art that Jeff has and wants to explore
4) tons of food in the fridge and freezer and pantry
5) friends who love me
6) family who love me (even though I'm weird...! they haven't said that for awhile though.)
7) warm cozy clothes
8) warm soft cozy bed
9) better-than-decent health, better than decent body
10) good brain that works on solutions in conjunction with heart and body
11) tea (mmm tea, time to go boil a kettle)
12) beautiful things in my life like movies, furniture, jewelry, this house
13) my cats (of COURSE my cats are #13!)
14) the sea, the sky, the trees, the earth, the flame - all so beautiful and so different!
15) my vegetable garden
16) medical insurance (fucked up that this is something to be thankful for instead of everyone just being covered!)
17) texture of objects - my teacup, my sweater, this desk, my cat's fur...
18) peace I've found since figuring my shit out and uprooting the unhealthy stuff in my heart
19) clarity of thinking since #18
20) children I get to work with
21) dedicated teachers and students I get to work with
22) cool people I have yet to meet(!)
23) adventures
24) learning new stuff (and getting frustrated and figuring it out)
25) the internet and all the friends I have found in it
26) really good pens and crisp strong paper
27) self-knowledge
28) intuition and having learned to trust it
29) breakfast at 11:45 am
30) and breakfast for dinner last night =)
31) the bike friendly town I live in which also has decent public transit
32) learning new things about how my body works in particular (see #24)
33) toast with cream cheese and fig spread (and all the other tasty foods!)
34) autumn leaves backlit by the descending sun
35) sunlight breaking through the clouds during a rainshower and how the world glows
36) my faith system and the deep thorough nourishment it brings me
37) rereading favorite beloved books (I just found Freckles on Google Books! I think I'm going to cry with happiness!)
38) Everyone reading this. You are appreciated and loved.
39) Second chances
40) Everyone who ever extended a hand or said a kind word when I was down. You made a difference.
41) A fresh and shiny new year to learn, love, grow, work, and change the world for the better.

Love,
Liz

I so often forget such a simple mood enhancer as putting a cd on.
(no, my ipod docking station/speakers aren't unpacked. Maybe someday!)

Irish dance music with an excellent hand-drum rhythm section. No, it's not a bodhran, no, I'm not sure how I know, I just know.

simple food for dinner - oven baked fries and a buffalo burger. Yes, I should eat some vegetables. I can't bring myself to care right now. And that's okay. Sometimes you just have to eat your comfort food.

Another Joy...

I heard ANOTHER counterpoint to the round I've got. *grin* I'll stop at three "voices" this time, because Dorit said "sanguines" tend to over-do the assignment... but I enjoy over-doing this one!

and

A Good Day at work. Leslie and David (the co-ministers) are so explicitly glad to have me there working in the office, I think Leslie has thanked me an average of twice for each day I've worked. It's so nice to be wanted.

and

one LONG nap when I came home, waking up to find my sweetie in his sexay new glasses trudging through/staring at a particular problem that's been bedevilling him for about a month... and then I suggested he go write stuff down and get it out of his head, and he DID. Walked past the office 10 minutes later smelling that whiteboard marker chemical smell, and he'd hauled the white board out, dumped his brain, and started playing piano for awhile. I love being helpful.

then

I got to eat the OTHER leg of the rotisserie chicken. MMM, tasty dark meat. I got to eat the first leg at lunch.

so yeah. Life is good.

BTW, I love watching the Joy Photo meme going around (thanks simplykimberly for shining up my day with that meme, and thanks ef2p for the Daily Photo meme as well) but despite being a visual learner, I just am not addicted to photos. Someday though I want to get the hang of uploading photos, I have a few good ones trapped on the digital camera.

my dear friend Sarah is coming to visit from London for two weeks! She'll be splitting her time between me and her other bestest friend from Aberystwyth, Jenn (who I gather lives in SF!)

OMG this is going to be fun!!

Recommends for nature walks, cool shopping venues or farmers markets, cultural events that are "must-do's" and upcoming social events and invitations to dinner between the 14th and the 30th, hereby being solicited!

She's a foodie, too, so I know I'm taking her to Oliveto's and Luna Ristorante and probably to Greens and Millenium (Unless Jenn takes her out to one of those last two instead... LOL < /feeling competitive>)



Advice? Suggestions? Bueller? Bueller?

for my future reference. I CAN make risotto with out Jeff in the house helping. W00+!

Tonight's Ingredients:

Butter, 2 dollops (administered separately)
one small fresh jalapeno, finely diced with seeds
one med yellow onion, diced
one portobello mushroom, randomly chopped =)
2 cups arborio rice.
2 cups white wine (TJ's Honey Moon Viognier, tasty!)
4 cups TJ's chicken broth (used the whole carton)
handful of dried oregano, crumbled
handful of dried parsley, crumbled,
handful of fresh basil
double handsfull of Pecorino Romano /Parmesan blend, or to taste

You need a 12" fry pan and an 8 cup pot for boiling the broth.

(Prep work of dicing already complete)
Start the wine and the broth on boiling in the sauce pan. Start butter dollop one melting in the frypan.
add jalapeno, & onion to fry pan till onions are translucent. add portobello.
Remove veggies from pan to a bowl, second dollop butter into fry pan, add the 2 c. arborio rice. Saute on med. heat till grains start to become translucent. By this time the broth/wine should be boiling. Turn it off. Ladle about 1/2 cup of broth into the frypan with the rice. Stir till mostly evaporated/absorbed.
Lather rinse repeat till half your broth is gone. Add the veggies back in, crumble the oregano and parsley in, new ladle of broth, mix thoroughly. Taste rice from time to time to check on desired done-ness.
Just before you add the last bit of broth, ready your parmesan/romano blend. bung in the broth, stir, add the basil, stir, add the cheese, stir till it's not wet, turn off the gas. Let it hang out for a couple minutes, bung a whole bunch of it in a bowl, pour the rest of the viognier to enjoy with your dinner, and, of course...

blog about it on Livejournal.

heh.