Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Delaware City, DE (about 75 minutes north of me) elected the state's 1st openly gay mayor. Its kind of cool by itself but even more cool when you consider that the state is currently considering legalizing civil unions in order to give same sex couples the same rights as married couples.

I saw this on FailBlog and had to share it. I've been hearing a song on the radio with the tag line "...like a G6, like a G6, like a G6". I finally asked a younger, hipper friend what it meant and learned that its a form of bragging. A G6 is a jet that costs over $58 million. Check out what Urban Dictionary has to say. Saw this on FailBlog too. Lately I've been struggling between getting the lowest possible price on something by shopping online versus supporting local merchants and employing local people by shopping locally. The bargain hunter in me always wants to get the best price, but the humanitarian in me wants to support local merchants who employ those who reside in my community. How do you all deal with this?

I've been having the worst time with blogger and paragraph spacing. Every post seems to get messed up with either no space between paragraphs or too many spaces between paragraphs. If I go back to edit a post I lose all the correct spacing that was there. I easily spend several extra minutes editing my posts to look right. Anybody else experiencing this? What do you do to fix it? Then there's the whole 'not able to paste into blogger' issue...

On Wed I joined a new gym. A full membership is $19.99 per month and it includes unlimited free Zumba, yoga, spinning, and step classes, free tanning, free towels, and its open 24 hours a day. I have a feeling its going to put a serious hurtin' on all the other gyms. Wed night I took a yoga class with Thad and it was really fun. Its a serious work out; I was really sweating and straining but I enjoyed it.

Yoga

Back in March I mentioned taking a free yoga class at the gym where Spouse & I belong. I liked it a lot and went again the following week. At that class, the instructor informed us she would no longer be leading the class, due to personal commitments. She seemed to think the gym would find someone else to lead the class.

I showed up the following week to find an empty classroom. When I inquired at the desk, I was informed they had not yet found anyone to lead the class. I checked back several more times over the following weeks but was told the same.

A friend of mine recently joined the same gym and told me he was interested in the yoga class. Sure enough, 6 months later the gym had finally found someone to lead the yoga class again.

So I went last night. Wow... it was a real work out. The original class was an hour long and had more beginners like me, including several men. This new class is an hour and a half long and had 2 experienced ladies, 1 inexperienced lady, and me.

Since yoga is about relaxation and stretching, I am always surprised how physically demanding it is. It requires a lot of strength to hold some of those positions. The stretching some people can do simply amazes me. But I am sure I will become more flexible as I continue taking the class each week.

I made it through the entire thing without needing to stop and rest, which is just short of a miracle, although the instructor said it was fine to do so. Afterward I had dinner and watched TV with Spouse for a while, and when I got up from the sofa to go to bed, I could already feel it in my muscles. I took 2 ibuprofen before going to bed, which I believe really helped reduce my soreness today.

Anyone else do yoga?

Crush du Jour: Philip Fusco

Friday fragments

I could swear that on last night's American Idol results show, the contestants were lip-syncing during the Motown medley. Did anyone else notice this? Then I saw this.

For the last few weeks I have been having extremely vivid and vibrant dreams. One had me & Spouse experiencing the detonation of a nuclear bomb in the US. Another had me (without Spouse) in a 3-way with a beefy, hairy-chested porn star with body image issues. (I know-WTF, right?) See how fun it is to be me? I seem to wake up after each dream, just long enough to tell myself I need to remember it for later, then fall back asleep. Not sure if there's any connection, but these vivid and vibrant dreams seem to have begun around the time Spouse & I began working out at the gym.

As I've posted before, I'm trying to live up to the motto "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle".
We recycle a lot, but I've been looking for ways to 'reduce'. Recently I've tried not automatically turning on a light when I walk into a room. For me its been more about habit than need. As I'd walk into a room I'd flip on the switch whether I needed to or not. But with my new awareness of this, I've found I can easily stop turning on the light switch unnecessarily. For instance, all of our bathrooms have windows in them, so during the day there is no 'need' to turn on the light. There is sufficient light from the window to take care of business. So I challenge you to look for ways to reduce your energy usage, too. Try NOT turning on the light.

A while back I went to a free 'introduction to yoga' class. It was nice, but included a whole lot more talking (history, different theories, etc.) about yoga and not enough doing. Then Spouse & I joined the local gym and I discovered the gym offered 2 different yoga classes. On Tues evening I tried 'Yoga Fit', the one better suited for beginners, and really enjoyed it! There were only about 6 others in the class and several were new to it like me. I had no advance knowledge of any of the poses, but it didn't take too long to pick them up by watching and listening to the instructor. I plan to do it every week. Anybody else besides Lewis doing yoga?

This week NH voted for marriage equality, as did VT. However, the Governor can nullify the legislation by vetoing the bill. The Governor of VT has already stated he will veto the bill in his state because it is his 'belief that marriage is and should remain between a man and a woman'. Apparently his personal beliefs are more important than the beliefs of the majority of the VT Senate. Hmmm, so much for "government of the people, for the people". More details can be found on Bob's blog.

A few weeks back Spouse & I discussed the purchase of a new rug for our foyer. The one that is currently there was purchased 2 houses (approximately 10 years) ago for under $200. and is looking a bit 'long in the tooth'. We've cleaned it several times but it just looks dingy. We agreed that we'd gotten our money's worth out of it. Well, my husband loves him some home shopping channels, so last Sat he told me that one of them was going to have an area rug clearance on Sun evening. So we watched it together and decided to order a very nice looking 100% wool area rug, clearance priced at $150. with free shipping. We were told it should arrive by April 5th. It arrived on Wed!

I couldn't believe how quickly it got here. We unrolled it last night and are very happy with it. Spouse really enjoyed the fact that we watched the presentation together, selected something, and that we are quite happy with the product. He feels this is a validation of his love for home shopping channels.

Earlier this week I got a call from the body shop, letting me know that Big Ella's paint job was complete! Naturally I was eager to see my big girl in her new dress right away, but since the body shop is an hour away and only open until 5pm M-F, we weren't able to pick up Big Ella without both of us taking off work. So, tomorrow (Sat) morning we are headed to the body shop! Photos to follow.

Again this week I showed no weight loss for all my efforts. Steven offered an interesting reason for this. He suggested that I am converting fat to muscle due to all the extra gym visits, and since muscle weighs more than fat, it appears I'm not loosing weight even though I'm loosing fat. Well, that was good enough for me! Seriously though, it makes sense, and it keeps me from loosing hope.

Have a fab weekend, everyone!

Crush du Jour: Javier Beltran

The lesson? Just breathe

This morning while taking a shower, I suddenly became aware that I believe the Universe has been trying to teach me a lesson for quite some time now: Just breathe.

Let me explain.

When I started working out with a personal trainer, I had trouble regulating my breathing. When the weights started to feel too heavy, I'd hold my breath in order to finish the set. But holding my breath deprived my brain from adequate oxygen and made me feel light-headed and dizzy. I'm blond; I'm already light-headed and dizzy! So I made a conscious effort to not hold my breath. The lesson? Just breathe.

A few weeks ago I went to a free class on meditation. (I wasn't particularly interested in meditation, but the class was free and some friends were going, so I went too.) Meditation employs controlled breathing to assist in achieving a deeper sense of relaxation or awareness. I followed the instructor's guided breathing directions and was able to feel a sense of calmness and control of my feelings and emotions. There's much more to it, but that's what I got from the free class. The lesson? Just breathe.

Last night I went to another free class, this one on yoga. I was excited about this because of all the positive things I've heard and read from others about yoga. The instructor shared a brief history of yoga, then talked about the Western practice of yoga as a healing type of exercise. It is accepting, non-judgemental, and non-competitive (like me). Before beginning with the stretching, we started with guided breathing exercises to promote relaxation and openness. The breathing exercises continued as we began our stretching and twisting. I enjoyed it a lot and hope to find more opportunities to practice it. The lesson? Just breathe.

So during my shower this morning when I perceived that the Universe had been trying to tell me to Just breathe, I thought about how many other situations are improved with breathing.

We've all heard someone say "Take a deep breath" before attempting something challenging or something requiring great skill or concentration. Now I realize that's not just an empty phrase. Taking a deep breath oxygenates the brain and allows it to work and focus better. The lesson? Just breathe.

When someone is engaged in a 'spirited conversation' (read: argument) with a co-worker or friend but does not want to go too far, they may tell themselves silently 'Take a deep breath' before responding. This not only forces the person to wait before shouting a response they may later regret, but also sends oxygen to the brain which helps them think more clearly. The lesson? Just breathe.

When my job is stressful and I notice every muscle is tense, I tell myself 'Deep breath; exhale slowly. Deep breath; exhale slowly" and it helps. Pent up stress can lead to all sorts of physical and psychological disorders, so don't let it build up too long. Remember the lesson and breathe.

Just breathe.

Crush du Jour: Charles Dera

Short subjects

Its been unusually cold again recently. Yesterday morning at 8:15 when I took Jordan for her walk it was only 24 degrees, and the wind chill factor made it feel like 13 degrees. Now, I know that doesn't sound all that cold to some of you, but for this area, that's cold. I really felt badly for the guys doing landscaping work at my neighbors.

Spouse & I watched Obama's speech last night, and I must say that I found it to be inspiring. There's a lot of improvement needed in the US, but I thought Obama did a great job of selecting the most critical items, explain why he selected them, and then pledged to work with Congress to fix the broken processes and make America emerge from this recession. "We will rebuild; we will recover." If you're interested (and you should be) in the most critical areas Obama will concentrate on, check this out. If you want to read a transcript of his speech in its entirety, click here. How refreshing to hear from a President who actually sounds like he knows what he's talking about (rather than just reading a script), and who doesn't smirk and contort his face while delivering a speech!

Spouse & I went to the gym last night. Since most of the machines are different than those I'm used to at the trainer's, I asked the guy behind the desk for a little help. He gave me a 10-minute orientation of how the machines work, how to adjust them, and what order to use them. It was exactly what I wanted. Then I did 12 minutes on the treadmill to warm up, followed by 40 minutes on the machines. Spouse spent the entire time on the stair climber. I don't know how he can do it that long.

Tonight I'm going to an introductory yoga class. I'm kind of excited about it, as I've heard several people talk about how much they enjoy yoga. I think it will be fun.
Is it just me, or does this picture give anyone else dirty thoughts?

A few weeks ago I took Big Ella to a place that does vintage car restorations to get an estimate on a paint job. I was floored by what I was told. Keep in mind Big Ella is still wearing most of her original paint from 1959, although there are a few rust spots and other areas where the paint has worn off. The guy at the resto shop said "to do it right" he would remove the bumpers and all the chrome, sand the body down to the bare metal, cut out the rust and replace it with new sheet metal, prime and paint the car, then put the bumpers and all the chrome back on. He thought that would probably run somewhere between $15,000. - $20,000. I tried not to ask as surprised as I was when I said "Wow." I also decided not to tell him that was more than I paid for the car.

After relating this to a friend, he recommended Maaco.
I was skeptical, as I remembered hearing ads for $199. paint jobs. I figured the quality would be crap, but my friend said he had used Maaco to paint a vintage car he once owned, and it turned out very nice. I went online to look for Maaco locations and learn a bit more, and then I called them. Obviously the $199. paint job is a special; not their everyday price, and it does not include any bodywork, which is exactly what I expected. But the more I read and learned, accompanied by my friend's recommendation, the more I am considering doing it. The $15,000. paint job is simply out of the question. But even if I got the top-of-the-line paint job at Maaco, its only about $1,000. plus the body work. So I figure, I may be able to get it all done for $2,000. or so. At that price, even if the paint job only lasted a few years, I could just get it done again (several times) and still not spend as much as the resto guy quoted.

So I'm thinking about it. Have any of you ever used Maaco or know anybody who has? I'd love to hear about the experience.

Crush du Jour: Andrew Stetson