First blog post of the year

So I've been a little behind on updating things around here.

This year I had only one New Year's resolution: to pass my Adult Bronze moves in the field test before September 1, when several elements on the test will change.

We began to focus primarily on the moves test in my lessons last June, and I decided not to skate in three competitions last fall because I finally started making progress on the moves and I didn't want to start working on my program again and lose the gains I'd just made. I decided to compete in Wyandotte in January, as I usually do, and we found out that they'd be having a test session in conjunction with the competition. It made sense for me to test then, even though my coach couldn't go, as I'd be there anyway and there would be other adults testing at the same time.

I'm pleased to report that I skated well during the test and I passed! My crossovers felt good, and I did some of the best left back outside edges I've ever done on the back crossover to back held edge pattern. (Part of that was because I didn't have to worry about running into anyone during the test.) One of the judges said I looked relaxed, which surprised me, as I didn't feel relaxed.

I did, however, feel quite relaxed during the competition later in the day. The warmup felt like any other practice, and I had fun skating my program. I'd been spending so much practice time on preparing for my test that I'd only run the program with music three times since I competed it last March, so I knew it'd be a little rough, but it wasn't terrible. We're working on getting some of the transitions to be smoother before sectionals on March 13.

In other news, I've finished two books on my Fill-in-the-Gaps list (Treasure Island and Wide Sargasso Sea), and I read a total of 25 books last year. I'm ahead so far this year, as I've finished three already. Knitting is going well -- I finished a cowl and several dishcloths, and I'm working on a baby blanket for our impending nephew. We celebrated the seventh anniversary of Lucy's adoption day last week. (I told her the story of how she was adopted and there was catnip for everyone.)

And now I'm caught up.

2009 resolutions

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

What the heck -- let's try this again.

2. Lose most of the 34 pounds I gained in the past two years.

My goal is to fit back into all of my pants. We have recently begun to use our new Wii Fit, so I hope it will assist me in this goal. I will also eat more fruits and vegetables and not so many cookies, chips, and the like.

3. Keep doing 50 pushups, flutters/Supermans, and situps every night.

Every night that my arms aren't KILLING ME from FOUR HOURS of synchro practice, that is. I joined a synchronized skating team in Cincinnati that lost a skater recently to a knee injury. They were desperate to find a replacement because they no longer had enough skaters to compete. I forgot how sore your arms get when you hold them up for two hours at a stretch!

4. Consistent loop.

Or, failing that, a semi-consistent loop. I'd be happy with one in ten right now -- I haven't seen my loop in months. If you happen to discover it wandering around Cincinnati or Michigan somewhere, please send it back. I miss it.

Last year's resolutions: Update

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

Nope. I only made it through 31 books, and only one of them is from the list. The upside of this is that I can't die!

2. Use up another three bottles of perfume.

Done.

3. Save money toward the Smart car and our wedding.

I mostly succeeded at this resolution. Both the Rabbit and the wedding are paid for, though our emergency fund isn't as robust as I'd like.

4. Increase my daily pushups and situps to 50 each.

I achieved this, along with slowly adding 50 Supermans (also known as flutters).

5. Go out for lunch only once per week at work.

Well, it wasn't only once per week, but over the year I averaged less than twice per week.

NYR update

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

I've been reading a little more lately, mostly quality stuff.

2. Use up another three bottles of perfume.

Doing well on the second bottle.

3. Save money toward the Smart car and our wedding.

Now that we have a smart car and the wedding is over, the savings is going toward building the emergency fund back up.

4. Increase my daily pushups and situps to 50 each.

Currently 47 each of pushups and situps and 30 Supermans.

5. Go out for lunch only once per week at work.

We had a stressful week, so we went out three times this week.

NYR 2008 update

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

I'm not making much progress on this goal. I'm on my way to finishing book #5, so I would need to finish 40 books in the next 8 months. Yikes. To my credit, though, I've been busy planning a wedding.

2. Use up another three bottles of perfume.

I finished up the first bottle this morning, and I'm partway through another (I've been alternating perfumes for variety).

3. Save money toward the Smart car and our wedding.

We've managed to save some money, but this wedding thing is expensive!

4. Increase my daily pushups and situps to 50 each.

My coach added "Supermans" to my daily routine. In this exercise, you lie on your stomach on the floor and lift your arms/torso and legs off the floor at the same time. It's going to help me arch my back for sit spins. I'm up to 25 of those and 44 each of pushups and situps, so I've made good progress here.

5. Go out for lunch only once per week at work.

I'm averaging more like one and a half to two times per week (the salad bar at Marsh counts as half).

New Year's resolutions 2008

Last year I made nine resolutions and did reasonably well in terms of achieving many of them. This year I'm going to have five resolutions.

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. Last night I was less than 20 pages from the end of the book I was reading before we went to Dan and Douglas's New Year's Eve party, so I finished that this morning, and I've started three or four other books. Last year I read 41 books, so I think this is achievable.

2. Use up another three bottles of perfume. Last year I did this by mid-December, and I'm hopng to do so again this year.

3. Save money toward the Smart car and our wedding. I'm listing this even though the Smart car should arrive by March and our wedding is in May.

4. Increase my daily pushups and situps to 50 each. My coach suggested doing pushups and situps to increase my strength for skating, and I'm up to 32 of each per night.

5. Go out for lunch only once per week at work. I'll keep track of this one again and see if I can do better this year.

NYR 2007 wrapup

1. Floss: I succeeded in making flossing a habit.

2. Lunch: I was not as successful in going out for lunch only once per week at work as I have been in the past; however, some of my excesses in this department were attributable to the changes we experienced at work and the need we felt to go out together to discuss what was going on. Although I could have been more conscientious at times, I wouldn't say that I failed at this goal.

3. On time: I'm just going to have to start getting up earlier.

4. Flip: Because my loop has been so fickle, we've only worked on my flip maybe twice. I spent a lot of time on edges and turns, which will make my jumps much easier when I do start landing them consistently.

5. Save: This year we spent a lot, but we have a lot to show for it (gutters, balcony, fence, TV, truck cap, Route 66 trip, cruise, and server, among other things). Although our savings didn't increase, we didn't borrow money for any of these items, and we paid off the truck almost a year early. Although we didn't achieve this goal either, we certainly didn't fail.

6. Recipes: I'd like to make several of this year's new recipes again.

7. Trans fat: I was pretty conscientious about reducing my trans fat intake, and I did well for the most part, with a few slipups.

8. Perfume: I achieved this goal about two and a half weeks ago. I've been enjoying using my other perfumes since then, and I'll choose another three bottles for next year.

9. Compact: Well, I bought plenty of new things this year, but most of the time I did so thoughtfully, which is the point.

Overall, I feel pretty successful about my nine resolutions. I think I'll make fewer resolutions for 2008.

NYR update 8

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.

2. Lunch: Doing a little better recently, although this is directly related to a sale on Healthy Choice and Marie Callender's frozen dinners at Marsh the other week.

3. On time: I have been leaving the house a little earlier.

4. Flip: No flip appearances, but I landed my loop doing a section of my program while my coach was watching last week.

5. Save: Truck is paid off! Now to save for the replacement for the Honda and pay extra toward the second mortgage.

6. Recipes: I made some garlic cheese biscuits from scratch a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, I picked up the wrong measuring cup when I added the milk, so they were three times as wet as they should've been. They turned out very, very flat, but they were tasty.

7. Trans fat: Steph found Crisco with no trans fat (I blogged about it last year, but I hadn't been able to find it anywhere yet). I can make my M&M cookies again!

8. Perfume: The third bottle is almost gone. I think I'll be able to start on a new bottle in a week or two. Or I might use a variety of perfumes until the end of the year.

9. Compact: Yesterday Steph and I went to several antique stores, including Midland Antique Mall, which is one of the places we went on our first first date in September 2000. I got an old coffee pot to use to heat water for tea -- I'd been wanting one for several years, and this one was only $6 and is very heavy. I also got a book and a vintage winter coat, which solves my problem of wanting a coat that doesn't look like a ski jacket to wear to work. I'll still wear that one when it's really cold out, but I can wear my new one the rest of the time. Last week I found an ad on Craigslist for several bags of business and casual clothes in my size; I ended up with 45 items of clothing for $50, and three of them were new with tags still on. Most items fit; I'm taking many of the ones that didn't (and some others that did but that I didn't think I'd wear) to work to share with some co-workers who might fit in the clothes. I'm also saving a few items for a friend's daughter, and I've put aside one particularly unusual piece of clothing for a gag gift or a white elephant exchange. (Yes, it's that good.) I wonder if the new-with-tags items fall under Compact guidelines or not.

NYR update 7

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.

2. Lunch: Trying to do better, but going out about twice a week. Things have been really busy lately, but they're starting to calm down, so I should be able to make some things I can freeze and bring for lunch.

3. On time: I got to work early once this week.

4. Flip: I haven't been working on flip attempts much because my loop disappeared and reappeared again. I need good technique on the loop before I get a flip.

5. Save: Doing well this month. Instead of putting any extra money that comes in into savings, I've been throwing it at the truck payment. Looks like it'll be paid off ten months early!

6. Recipes: I haven't tried any new recipes lately, but I might get ambitious this weekend.

7. Trans fat: Doing pretty well. Out of microwave popcorn at work. I did eat at Arby's today, though, which was bad.

8. Perfume: The large bottle is done now, and I'm working on the small bottle. I think I'll achieve this goal before the end of the year. I'm so confident about it that I've chosen several more perfumes to concentrate on next. I know that I'll always have several scents; I like variety and I have several favorites that I don't think I could choose between. However, I don't need as many as I have today, and having too many causes trying new BPAL scents to seem ridiculous. I want to be able to try new scents within reason.

9. Compact: I haven't bought anything new since... hmmm... it's been a little while. The books at Half Price Books don't count, but the chain and S hooks for the Sky Chair and the new toilet seat do.

NYR update 6

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.

2. Lunch: Went out twice this week.

3. On time: I got to work early once this week.

4. Flip: I haven't been skating enough recently. Moving to the new rink has been a challenge because it's farther away from home and work and because the rink is usually really cold.

5. Save: Our upcoming Route 66/Roswell trip is going to put our savings on hold for a little while.

6. Recipes: I haven't tried much in the way of new recipes lately.

7. Trans fat: Doing pretty well. Almost out of microwave popcorn.

8. Perfume: The level in the large bottle is going down fast!

9. Compact: I'm having to buy some new shoes because I have to wear orthotics now and they don't fit in most of my old shoes. It sucks -- I have one pair of shoes I can wear to work in the summertime. I had just gotten to the point where my shoe collection was almost perfect, and now I can't wear most of my shoes most of the time. Unfortunately, I still need to keep most of them for the times when I don't wear my orthotics because otherwise I won't have any shoes that match most of my clothes. I'm supposed to wear the orthotics 90% of the time. It's going to be difficult to find shoes to take to Roswell.

NYR update 5

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently. I think it's become a habit by now.

2. Lunch: Slowly making progress on last year's deficit.

3. On time: I'm leaving the house a little earlier these days. Moving to our new building at work will help, as my commute will probably be a little shorter.

4. Flip: It felt like I got good height in my flip attempts this week, but I'm not getting the rotation, so I'm landing forward on two feet with a three turn to backward.

5. Save: Selling Steph's old house helped a lot in this department.

6. Recipes: The leg of lamb I made for Easter turned out well. I'm going to figure out something to do with ahi tuna this week.

7. Trans fat: Doing much better.

8. Perfume: One bottle down, two to go. I'm working on the larger bottle now, and I can see the level going down. I'm glad I like all of these scents -- this would be no fun at all if I didn't.

9. Compact: Doing okay. We bought a new vacuum and air purifier with a gift card recently.

NYR update 4

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently. My dentist was happy with my teeth two weeks ago.

2. Lunch: I have gone out for lunch less than one time per week so far this year. However, I did go out three times last week for stress relief and co-worker bonding.

3. On time: Not doing so well.

4. Flip: Started working on flip with new coach this morning. I'm happy with the exercise she showed me and with my progress today.

5. Save: I can't complain -- we've not been buying much.

6. Recipes: Last night I made rosemary-peach chicken, which turned out well. It was supposed to be rosemary-orange marmalade chicken, but we didn't have any orange marmalade.

7. Trans fat: I'm still making a good effort. Except for the french fries on Sunday.

8. Perfume: Almost done with the bottle I'd been concentrating on. Second bottle (small) is just over half full, and third bottle (large) is about three-quarters full. I may not finish all three this year, but I'm reasonably certain that I'll come close.

9. Compact: Doing okay but not perfect. I did buy my loop a shirt on Saturday, after all.

NYR update 3

1. Floss. Doing well -- I think it's become a habit.

2. Go out to lunch at work only once a week. Doing very well. This week's free burrito adventure doesn't count as going out, as it was free. Sometimes I make lunch for my co-worker Alan, and he pays me $3 per lunch. I've decided that making two lunches for Alan is equal to going out one extra time, and this (plus going out less than once per week so far) has reduced my "lunch debt" from last year to 10.

3. Be on time to work. I still can't get the hang of getting out of the house on time.

4. Land flip. No flip yet, but new loop exercises. Because there's a loop in the flip, they should help.

5. Save money. I'm not spending much, but not saving much extra either. This resolution has become more important in light of the news that my company was sold this week.

6. New recipes. A few weeks ago I made peanut sauce for a stir-fry, which turned out really well. This week I'm considering making regular chili, which I've never made before.

7. Less trans fat. I was doing well until today. We were out to lunch with some friends and I ordered potato salad with my burger. One friend ordered cottage cheese, but they brought him fries instead. He didn't want them, so I ate them. (It was probably a good thing after all, as I didn't like the potato salad.)

8. Perfumes. Doing well. I can see the difference in two of the bottles, but one of them isn't disappearing as fast. Still, I think I'll make my goal. I use a different perfume about once a week for variety.

9. The Compact. I'm not doing as well as most other people on the e-mail list I'm on. However, I've made a list of everything I've bought this year, both to make myself consider the items and to keep track of whether I use them.

NYR update 2

1. Floss. I forgot to floss the other night. However, I've flossed each night except that one, so I'm working on forming the habit.

2. Go out to lunch at work only once a week. Doing well. I went out to lunch with some co-workers yesterday, and that was the first time I've done so all year, so I even made progress on my goal of catching up from last year's excesses.

3. Be on time to work. Not doing so well. I still can't get up early enough to get out of the house on time.

4. Land flip. No flip yet, but I learned a new jump sequence (half lutz-toe loop-falling leaf-salchow), which is seriously kicking my ass. It's most assuredly going in the program by the time I compete in February.

5. Save money. Doing okay. I'm saving money by cooking more at home, not buying stuff, and not shopping on eBay (except for the new walking shoes I bought to replace my walking shoes at work, which had split at the heel seam).

6. New recipes. Some progress. I'm making a new variation on white chicken chili tonight, and I made a version of baked ziti with some substitutions last week.

7. Less trans fat. Doing pretty well. I found a loaf of garlic bread with no trans fat last night at the grocery store, and I haven't had a single french fry all year.

8. Perfumes. Doing moderately well. As I said, I picked out three perfumes, and I've been wearing them a little more than half the time. Today I marked the level in each with a marker. (One has about 1/4 bottle left, one has about 2/3 bottle left, and one is almost full.) However, I purchased three new bottles of perfume at the Body Shop the other night. They were on clearance ($6 each, originally $16 each) and they've been discontinued, so I felt I had to get them. I already knew I liked them because I have a little sample pack of nine of their scents. They're keeping four of those and getting rid of five. I feel kind of bad about buying them, though, so I'm not going to use them until I finish at least one bottle of the three I'm trying to finish.

9. The Compact. Doing okay except for the purchase of some small stuffed animals (at 75% off) to throw to my skating friends at competitions and the aforementioned perfume. Also, I bought walking shoes, but that's kind of health-related, as I need to take care of my feet and my old walking shoes were cutting into them and making them bleed.

NYR update

An update on my resolutions:

1. So far, so good. I flossed after I got home from Dan and Doug's last night in a semi-tipsy state because I figured it was after midnight, so it counted.

2, 3, and 4. Haven't worked or skated yet this year. Did watch some skating today, though.

5. Didn't spend excess money at the grocery when on mission for soup vegetables. Oh, wait, maybe I did. But we will use the items I bought -- crackers to go with the cheese my aunt sent us and marinade for the chicken in the freezer.

6. I made bean soup a little differently today. It turned out okay.

7. So far, so good.

8. I chose three perfumes and wore one of them. I'm not sure I can stick to wearing only those three, but I can at least focus on using them a lot and using them up.

9. I didn't buy anything new today. Only food.

New Year's resolutions

It's the last day of 2006 -- time to post my New Year's resolutions.

1. Floss every night. I used to be really good at this one, but I started forgetting sometime this summer, and I need to get back to it.

2. Go out for lunch at work only once per week, cumulative (not counting weekends or when I'm on vacation). I've made this resolution since 2005, and I've varied in my success. In 2005, I ended up two ahead, but in 2006 I was 16 behind, so I have 14 weeks to make up. Guess I better get started on that ham and bean soup.

3. Be on time to work. Despite six months of my best efforts to leave earlier, I keep leaving the house at the time I used to need to leave when I lived on the east side. Old habits die hard.

4. Land my flip again. I've landed it twice from a standstill, both in 2005, and I want to transform that into a real flip jump. Unfortunately, it seems like most of my jumps arrive during times of great personal hardship. I'd like this one to come more easily.

5. Save money. We have a long list of things we want to do to the house and items we would like to purchase. I'd like to save more money toward those things. The next few items include a chest freezer, a new computer for Steph, and getting Phoebe's check engine light (yes, it's back on again) checked out.

6. Try more new recipes. I bought a new cookbook yesterday called A Slob in the Kitchen, which has some interesting easy recipes. My adventures in cooking have mostly turned out well, and I'm interested in exploring several other cookbooks we have. I've started dating recipes when I try them, too.

7. Less trans fat! I've been trying to cut down on my trans fat consumption recently. Guess I'll be getting my fries from Chick-Fil-A or Wendy's when the craving hits. I admit that the Shedd's Spread Country Crock limited-edition cinnamon spread that I love so much has half a gram per serving, but I should be allowed one indulgence, right? Besides, I don't use much of it.

8. Use up at least three of my perfumes. I have a lot of perfume, and as much as I've tried, I'm not a one-scent kind of girl, although Flower Moon could almost make me into one. I'm running out of space on top of my dresser for perfumes, and about three-quarters of the ones I have are scents I like but don't feel the need to purchase again when I run out.

9. The Compact. The Compact is a movement in which people don't buy new stuff. They do, however, buy used stuff. Exemptions are made for such things as food and health and safety items. We're going to try it and see how it goes. New stuff resold on eBay seems to count as used, too.