I'm an elf

Or so the quiz I took on Facebook says. Husband is a wizard. Go figure.

Anyway.

I did some pilates on Monday in place of jogging. Man oh man, did I work my core. I'm still sore in my abs. Which is a good thing. I'm going to try to do the ab portion again tonight after jogging. I'm glad I'm getting back into an exercise routine.

Studying is going well so far. I have some reading I need to get done. I'm not doing badly on the practice problems. The trick will be to keep myself motivated. The dissatisfaction I have with my current job helps, but I'm not sure it's enough.

Weekend in review

You all saw the list of things I could've done this weekend. Now for the list of things that I actually did.

• Kitchen got squeaky clean! Yeah!
  the secret: use a hairdryer to dry the tile to get all the fluff and dog hair off
  what I learned: never ever buy a house that has high gloss tile in the kitchen
• Two casseroles of chili mac were made and one was delivered to a friend with twin babies
  and the kitchen was still clean
• I met with a friend of mine to help him study for some exams for becoming an actuary
• I decided I want to be an actuary too, and am now studying for these same exams
• I've read the first chapter in my statistics text and have done 10 of the practice problems
• I have trepidations but am excited
• Started a batch of kombucha
• Washed all of our bedding
  

Best laid plans...

Saturday is a huge blank canvas waiting for me to paint it. It's an empty stretch of one of my most precious resources: time. And I am giddy. I've decided to make a list of things I'd like to do during my Saturday. This isn't a must-do list; this is an options list. These are things that I can do but don't necessarily have to do. If I only do one of them and spend the rest of my Saturday reading, then so be it.

• Make mayonaise and ketchup
• Remake my shea body butter to incorporate some almond oil, coconut oil and eucalyptus
• Make more face cream with some cocunot oil
• Clean out fridge
• Clean kitchen
• Give myself a mani/pedi
• Clean the deck up
• Organize the gardening implements
• Laundry, laundry, laundry
• Clean master bath
• Cook some breakfast
• Make bone broths (chicken and beef)
• Update blog
  

What am I up to?

Not a lot. But it's keeping me very busy. Seems like I've had a lot of isolated social events lately. One here, one there. The next thing I know I'm doing something every night of the week. I'm struggling to make sure this doesn't impact my new-found exercise routine. For instance, we have bible study tonight. We have to leave the house no later than 6:30pm. It's going to be hard to get in a jog and shower between getting home and that time. However, I'm going to make my best effort. Maybe I'll skip the shower and go to bible study dirty. I'm pretty sure that's what Jesus would do.

Home cooking has stalled. We are struggling to cook our own food right now instead of eating out. We went on a glut of eating out after Easter. Even though our fast from restaurant food didn't go so well, we still felt deprived. We had to go eat out without the guilt.

We have another glorious weekend of freedom on the horizon. We aren't going anywhere and no one is coming here. Oh! all the things I think I'll get done but won't!

TTC: Update

So, I'm now day 5. Did you notice what happened there? Did ya! I went through a whole two week wait without obsessing. I did not pee on one stick. NOT! ONE! I did not obsess over my boobs, or feeling tired, or feeling nauseated, or any other "pregnancy" symptoms that I experience with extreme regularity. I haven't not obsessed for almost two years. My cycle was 32 days total. My luteal phase was 15 days. Not bad. I'm still expecting my cycles to start drawing out longer and longer. (36 days, then 40, then 54...) But maybe they won't? maybe? I don't know. I'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

In the meantime...

We are replenishing our savings. Buying the new-to-us car drained the account. And frivolous living has prevented us replenishing.

I'm also getting in shape. As is Husband. I've started running fairly regularly. I've also started doing some yoga in the mornings and some situps after my jog. Today, I feel my muscles, but I'm not in pain. I think that's the perfect amount of workout.

Tuesday's Child

I was born on a Tuesday, which apparently means I'm full of grace. Ironic. There are days, even weeks and months, when I do not feel so full of grace. There are periods in my life that I look back on and cringe. I don't mean the kind of cringe you do when you look back on the time in junior high you unfurled your towel at a pool party to only then remember you had carefully rolled up your bra and panties in your towel to prevent anyone from seeing them. No. I mean the kind of cringe where you wish you hadn't been that person or done those things. How you can't believe there are people who know these things about you and still love you; much less God. I totally get Adam and Eve. I've committed the sin knowingly and then tried to hide. How could he possibly still love me. After all, I knew better. But he does. He has filled me with his grace, forgiven me and still loves me. I know this is the tired, beat-into-the-ground standard Sunday school story. This post is probably boring and trite to a lot of you; but this is a revelation that I've made several times in my life and will probably make several more. And every time I'm floored by the mystery of God's grace. Of which, I am very full.

iPhone App: C25K

I've decided to start reviewing iPhone apps that I've tried. I'm doing these in no particular order. If you do not own an iPhone, get one! Despite the fact that I work in "technology" I've never really pushed people to technologize their lives. In fact, I kind of discourage it. Not the case with the iPhone. Now that I have one, I can't imagine life without it.

The app I will review today is the C25K app. It stands for couch to 5k, meaning you can go from being a couch potatoe to running a 5k. Here is a description:

Listen to your own music while you do Couch to 5K intervals. C25K app for iPhone or iPod touch gives you audio cues according to the C25K intervals so you don't have to keep looking at your stopwatch.

I've tried this method of training before, but was not successful because it was far too tedious to time alternating 60 and 90 second intervals. I even used a sound program to create a thrity-minute long mp3 composed of my favorite songs with my voice over letting me know when to run and walk. That was tedious as all get out. And a little window into my particular brand of psychosis.

Enter the iPhone app. I've only done one jog, but it was fabulous. The 60 seconds of jogging followed by the 90 seconds of walking is not too taxing. I definitely get a work out but I don't kill myself. I will run again on Wednesday. My only pointer is to make sure you lock your screen using the lock button in the top right corner of the app.

Download and enjoy!

Holy week, following a very unholy week

Last week my company fired 12 employees. I had to get their personal data off their computers for them and verify they weren't taking super-secret company information. This one girl had a ton of data, as in multiple CD's. What do you say to someone who just inexplicable lost their job? It was not fun. It didn't feel good. No one felt good afterward. Everyone was unsettled last week. My stomach was very screnchy.

This week has been better.

This week is also Holy Week, as in the week before Easter. It starts with Palm Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are quiet, then Wednesday is the Seder supper, Thursday is Maundy Thursday service followed by Good Friday. This is one of my favorite weeks out of the year. My Lenten fast wasn't very successful so a good Holy Week is greatly needed.

In other news, I'm considering reviewing iPhone apps.

TTC: Update

I ovulated last Wednesday which was the last day of lit sleep. Meaning it was the last day that I didn't block all light from our bedroom. That means I ovulated on day 16. Not bad! Pretty normal!

This time during my last cycle I had consistently sore breasts from the time of ovulation into the next round of menses. This cycle, no soreness. I think my hormones are starting to adjust to the lack of clomid. I feel like my body is detoxing in a way.

I made some hooch!

I did my first double ferment of kombucha. Quick run down on the steps:

1. brew a gallon of tea, add a cup of sugar and let cool
2. pour tea into a gallon jar and add your scoby (mushroom)
3. let sit out for five days
4. put a small amount of fruit juice into the bottom of several jars
5. fill up the jars with your fermented tea
6. let the jars ferment for a few more days then put in fridge

I had more fermented tea than I had jar space, so I drank some of my kombucha right away. It was pleasantly tart and fizzy. Reminded me of a lemon tea punch of some sort. I tried one of my double fermented jars (the ones with the juice added) and it tasted like a wine cooler. As in alcohol. Not strong but definitely alcohol. I think the juice had too much sugar in it so the yeast took over and produced more alcohol than one would normally want in kombucha. Oh well, live and learn.

I'm still drinking it. It is yum.

Learning to love liver

Liver. It's very very good for you. I don't like it. However, I'm willing to try it six times to see if I can develop a taste for it. So far I've had it twice. It has a metallic taste that I'm just not sure I can get over. I'm going to try this recipe tonight. I'm also going to soak it in some milk for an hour or so. I've read that the soak will remove some of that liver taste.

In case you're wondering what the six times is all about, I'll explain. The theory is that it takes tasting a food six times for you to develop a taste for it. That's how I was with red wine. There are a lot of foods which I enjoy today that, at one time, I disliked very much. For instance, hot and sour soup. The first time I had it, I was repulsed. My friend, who is a pickier eater than me, was scarfing it down and I did not know how. Then a strange thing happened. About a month later, I got a food craving for hot and sour soup. And I loved it.

I really hope the same thing can work for liver.