I am a Champion!

Why am I a champion?

1. I got all my numbers (cholesterol, glucose, all that fun stuff) and I'm about as healthy as they come. (My pulse was a little higher than usual at 56, but that's what happens when you prick my finger. I freak out and things like blood pressure and heart rate go up.)
2. Yesterday's step count: 10342. Yup, I did it. Not an over-achiever, but a champion for sure.
3. I'm getting a flu shot in a little bit, even though I already got my finger pricked. Two pricks in one day is serious business when a single prick threatens pass out.

It's alright. You don't have to tell me I'm a champion. I already did.

Too Skinny To Run

No really, I was. Not that it was really a skinniness problem. It was more of a modesty problem. Turns out when you run in pants that are too big for you, they fall down.

I remedied the situation last night. My niece and I went shopping and she helped me pick out some clearance shorts from TJ Maxx (cause really, I've got no reason to pay for overpriced exercise clothes). She slobbered on the hangers of the ones she liked. The good news is I can go running again. The bad news is I can go running again.

I also acquired a pedometer last night. I think this is the fourth pedometer I've owned in the past six years.

Pedometer 1: Purchased for a college health class. I had to record my steps for two weeks. Steps generally ranged from 6,000 to 17,000 (with no obvious reason why I got so few one day and so many the next day since both days I was running all over campus). I was wearing it one day, after the assignment was completed, and then I wasn't anymore. I believe it fell into the couple of inches of snow covering the ground. I didn't try to find it. On a scale from 1 to Not Accurate this pedometer fell somewhere in the middle.

Pedometer 2: Purchased a couple years after pedometer 1. I was going to be healthy. This pedometer was slightly more accurate than the first one. I wore it for a little while. I don't know what happened to it.

Pedometer 3: Free from BYU. We gave pedometers to the students that were assisting with our international conference. The student with the most steps over the course of the 4-day conference won a prize. I didn't wear mine. I was too busy managing a conference. However, experiments revealed I wasn't missing out on much since this pedometer is a solid Not Accurate.

Pedometer 4: Purchased yesterday. On a scale from 1 to Not Accurate it's pretty accurate. Also, it is special so I can clip it anywhere and it still keeps track of my steps. This is important for days when I wear a dress.

The recommended number of steps a day is 10,000, or 70,000 a week. I'm going for 12,000 a day cause I'm just like that. The day is more than half over and I just topped 2,000. Office jobs. They sure kill your step count.

At least I'm consistent in being behind my goal counts. Steps, words—I treat them all the same.

NaNoWriMo
words I've written: 2505
words I should have written: 16,000

I made this last night.

See?

Hers may have looked better. But it sure didn't taste any better. That thing was delicious. I've got enough of the innards left to do another one tonight. I think this time I'll leave the sauce out and put in extra cheese, then have the sauce on top. Yumm.

In other news, I have decided on a story for NaNoWriMo.

Story: check!
Word count: 0

I better get started quick. Otherwise I am sure I'll start running around in story circles again.

From My Life

I'm signed up to begin my masters degree in instructional design sometime soon here. It's a two-year program. I'm hoping to get it done in one.

I've begun stopping at my local Harmon's each night before work to make myself a cute, little salad with all my favorite salad things so I can eat it for lunch the next day. It's usually about three dollars (except when I want a big one) and is always delicious.

I'm taking art lessons. I've gone to four so far. I'm as bad as I always knew I was.

I've decided to become the stir-fry queen, with powers to whip up a stir fry like nobody's business. I've made two so far, with ingredients like fish sauce and sesame oil and lots of garlic. No bottled sauces or prepped vegies for me. They are pretty much fabulous.

This place gives a wicked awesome workout. I was sore enough that I wanted to cry every time I sneezed for about five days. I had a cold. The first class is free (the only one I've been to).

I finally finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. This Thanksgiving marks two years since I started reading it. Yes, it was that hard for me to get through. I enjoyed his writing; it was the story I struggled with. (Did you know I've always had a thing for Hamlet? A passionate dislike kind of thing?)

I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo. It's day two and I don't have any idea what I'm going to write.

Banana cake is delicious with burnt butter cream cheese frosting and looks rather elegant in layers with large frosted rosettes in a ring around the top. Lemon cake should be eaten more often.

I'm considering taking belly-dancing lessons. Fabulous, sexy abs guaranteed.

My sister, mother, and I sewed the awesomest halloween costumes ever. No lie.

I'm spending a lovely week in Paris near the beginning of next year sometime. Non-stop flight all the way. If only I could afford first class.

I am a season subscriber to the Utah Symphony. I've heard them play both Beethoven's ninth symphony and eighth symphony. This weekend is symphony no. 7. I'm stoked.

I need to find some sort of class for writing personal essays.

I have decorated my cubicle at work with a discount shower curtain from T.J. Maxx. A million times more fabulous than those fuzzy, gray walls (affectionately know as Luther) and cheap enough that I can switch it out as often as I want.