It's resolution time, y'all!

Last year I wrote down my resolutions on the back of a receipt in a bar in Astoria, Oregon. I also wrote them in Spanish, in case they were discovered by anyone. Unfortunately, I lost them, so they can't even be discovered by me. I'm sure someone else has discovered them and probably speaks enough Spanish to understand things like "tomar mas agua." I can only remember four:

1) The afore-mentioned "drink more water"
2) Eat less sugar
3) Tell him the truth (ooohhhh...I'm so cryptic and mysterious!)
4) Leave Eugene

I have done three of those things, with variable effect on my health and well-being. I'm sure the other things were either really vague ('get in shape') or totally unreasonable ('learn a new language').

Last year was not the best, and I am trying to think deeply about what I can do to be happier. A few months ago, a very wise friend of mine, Big Gay Dave, wrote on his Facebook wall, "I don't invest much time or energy into the emotion disappointment." I seem to invest an assload of time into that emotion, and I asked him for his secret. He responded: "this is the sister-thought of, I am responsible for my own happiness." So how do I this? Thoughts, Dear Readers?

One quarter down, eleven to go!

In addition to a wicked eyelid twitch brought on my finals week-related stress, the sleep deprivation also brought me such joy as shutting my own finger in a drawer and mistaking the alarm clock for a fire alarm. But don't worry, upon waking up to what I thought was a fire alarm, I did not move. I just laid there wondering where the fire alarm was located (not, "I wonder if there's a fire" or "maybe I should move"). Speaking of fire alarms, yesterday on campus there was some sort of alarm issued that emptied all of the buildings on campus into the main square. I have never seen so many people wearing black in one place at one time. No one knew why the alarm was sounding or why we couldn't be in buildings, but I don't think I was the only one that thought that in case of some sort of emergency or disaster, standing in a group with a thousand undergrads was NOT where I wanted to be. So I walked across the street and pretended like I was waiting for the bus.

Workout regimen update: I am only one day behind in my December challenge, and the push ups are still the hardest fucking thing in the world. But I guess they should be. Doing push ups feels like trying to jump everywhere instead of walk. Man, fuck gravity.

Today is Friday, and I'm headed to happy hour and this genius place with a group of lady friends:

My mission, should I choose to accept it (I do), is to see how many $5 margaritas I can drink between 5pm and 6pm. I'm sure only good things can come from this.

Over and out, good buddies.

Workout blog!

A friend of mine posted the following workout on her Facebook page, and declared it the December Challenge. You're supposed to do this every day this month:
50 crunches
25 leg lifts
50 bicycles
25 squats
15 sumo squats
50 calf raises
100 arm circles
15 push ups
50 jumping jacks
1 min plank

So far, I'm four for four, but I'm a little concerned what 50 calf raises a day is going to do to my delicate and lady-like calves. Mostly, anything that can make me do 15 push ups a day is a miracle. I like this work out because it takes about ten minutes, and I can do it in my underwear from the comfort of my living room while watching football/Weeds/the League/Walking Dead reruns.

Since I'm apparently posting about annoying healthy things, the following recipe is BOMB DOT COM:

http://haveyourcakeandeatittooblog.com/2011/11/10/black-bean-and-lentil-soup/

I store my red lentils in this jar so that if anyone burglarizes my home, they won't steal them: