2012 Resolution #3 - Set (and measure!) Monthly Health and Fitness Goals

Um, isn't this everyone's New Year's Resolution? Lose weight.  Eat more healthy foods.  Get in shape.

Well, that's all well and good, but I've been trying to lose 10 pounds for about 10 years now, and all I have to show for it are the extra 8 pounds I've put on since the wedding.  (I'm not fat, I'm fluffy.)

However, with the passing of my grandfather and the advent of my 30th birthday this past year, I have decided that 2012 is about genes, not jeans.  Yes, it'd be fab to fit in a size four (um, I'm not really sure what that even looks like), but I'd so much rather live 89 HEALTHY years being able to enjoy the activities I choose.  So health and fitness goals it is.

In the name of accountability, I have decided that I will choose 1-2 monthly goals to concentrate on for each month of 2012.  These are going to be small, daily changes in my lifestyle that will hopefully create a long-lasting impact for my health and well-being.  Because, let's face it, I'm not giving up chocolate for the rest of my life.  I'm probably not even giving up chocolate for the rest of the day.

The challenge (besides, you know, actually achieving a goal) will be that these are cumulative goals.  Since the purpose of each of these goals is to create a lasting habit, each month will (hopefully) build on the ones that come before.  It's all about grace around here, though, so if I don't achieve a monthly goal, I'll have to figure out what went wrong and tackle it again.

Please feel free to chime in with advice and encouragement.  I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

2012 Resolution #2 - 52 New Recipes

It's amazing that no matter how many great recipes I have, I frequently find myself thinking "I have no idea what to cook for dinner!"  I love falling back on familiar favorites, but it's time to expand that list of familiar favorites - or at least find a few new things to whip out at dinner parties.

For the next year, I am determined to try 52 new recipes, averaging one recipe per week.  To further specify, at least 26 of these recipe must be main courses so that I can hopefully add to my collection of "favorites".

Suggestions are welcome, and be sure the check back for recipes and reviews!

Reading Challenges Galore!

Since I'm planning on reading 100+ books anyway... I might as well join a few challenges to keep me on my toes.

#1 : The Pulitzer 2's

I really wanted to join this challenge last year (when it was The Pulitzer 1's!), but between wrapping up a school year, planning a wedding, and executing a move, I wisely decided to refrain.  This year I'm all in, and I'm looking forward to acquainting myself with a variety of Pulitzer Prize winners (Although I am grateful to have already read The Good Earth, because I have no need to revisit that one!).

#2 : The Chunkster Challenge

Reading "big books" is not intimidating to me, but I want to ensure that I don't fill up my list with lightening quick reads starting in November.  I will be participating at the "Do These Books Make My Butt Look Big" level (six books, 2 at 450+, 2 at 550+, and 2 at 750+).

#3: The Victorian Challenge

I'm modifying this one a bit.  I will try to read one novel by each of the highlighted author's per month, for a total of 12 books.  Many of the authors I have read before, so I will enjoy exploring new works.  A few are on my "should read" or "why the heck haven't I read" list, and it's always nice to check those off!

There are several more tempting challenges, but I think three is enough to get started!  Happy reading, 2012!

2012 Resolution #1 - 104 Books

I have flirted with making New Year's resolutions off and on for most of the last 30 years, although it has always seemed strange timing.  To me, the new year has always begun in September, with the advent of the new school year.  However, considering I am not presently involved in a school year, I thought it might be time to reinvigorate the idea of setting some goals for 2012.

As a lifelong reader, I actually have no idea how many books I have read throughout the years.  If you were to ask me how many books I read this year, the answer would be "a lot".  Not very satisfactory.  So this year I am giving myself a personal goal, and we will see how easy or difficult this goal is to achieve.

And, of course, the internet comes to my rescue, because not only do I have the opportunity to make my goal public, but I also have the opportunity to join in a "formal" challenge hosted by Book Chick City.  So consider me formally engaged for the year!

My personal goal: Read 104 books in 2012, averaging 2 books per week

There are very few formal rules for this challenge, but I have created some of my own to prompt me in challenging myself:

1. Print and e-books are acceptable (as permitted by all challenges)
2. No Young Adult books
3. A book can only count for two challenges, if crossovers are permitted
4. Anthologies are permitted, if the entire book is read.
5. NO REREADING!

Fingers crossed and wish me luck - I'll be updating as I go!

The Right Tool for the Job

The past two days, my father and step-mother have been in town helping me tame the chaos that is our apartment.  Susan is a genius at hanging pictures - what would take me measuring and re-measuring, second guessing myself, and still having multiple nail holes takes her about five minutes.

Of all the tasks I was most eager to have help/advice about, the bookshelf placement in the small "den" was the number one.  I have three bookshelves that have been side by side for the past few years, and on this particular wall, they were literally an eighth of an inch too wide.  Bummer.  I crammed and cussed and shoved when I was setting them up, but I eventually decided to leave it be and have one bookshelf awkwardly placed on the adjoining wall.  I was hoping Susan could arrive at a more elegant solution.

She took one look at the room and said "Take off part of the baseboard."

...

Say what?  Take out part of the baseboard? No big deal? Stick it back later with some caulk and paint?  None of these things sounded like me; however, the lure of actually being able to (a) store my books together and (b) use the den was strong.  So I went to the hardware store for advice.

Before this goes further, I should state for the record that I am not a DIY kind of girl; I am most certainly a "hire someone to do it" kind of girl.  Of course, my previous track record of "house repairs" has included such incidents as tree-on-roof and tree-in-closet, which seem like a fairly steep learning curve to the nascent home owner of 2.5 months.  Hiring help has seemed like the best route.

It took a bit of time to convince the very nice man at customer service that I did not need (and could not, in fact, operate or store) a $100+ saw, despite the fact that it would, indeed, be the best tool for the job.  I was all about second best and cheap.

Exit me, with one small hacksaw and an exacto knife, armed with good intentions.

The premise was simple: cut the baseboard, loosen the pain/caulk, and out it will pop.  The reality was not quite so simple: the angle for cutting was not ideal, since the saw would really only move one direction without damaging the floor.  It took some serious time and dedication.

But as the project progressed, another small problem emerged.  I needed something to pry the piece of baseboard away from the wall enough to both get the saw through the remaining bit and to pop out the chunk.  I had thought to use a flathead screw driver, but that proved useful only in denting the wood.

I hunted through Stan's tool kit to no avail - nothing was both thin enough and sturdy enough to give me the leverage I needed.  At this point, with a fairly mangled baseboard, a blister, and some serious time committed to this project, I refused to give up.  Finally I turned to the place all good handymen turn when they are in need of a specialized tool: the kitchen.

I'm fairly certain there is a picture of me on the floor, prizing apart the baseboard with great concentration, using my trusty spatula.

I'm so proud of myself, I might even try learning how to drill today!

Down in the Depths

Monday finally brought the remainder of my belongings (hello, stuff.... goodbye, month long move).  As thrilled as I was to finally be reunited with my bowls and measuring spoons, I was a bit dismayed to watch the moving van leave at 5:07 p.m.   In the excitement of shuffling furniture around to accommodate the missing entertainment center (storage!), I almost forgot that All Those Boxes were also going to remain, sitting exactly where I instructed them to be dumped in my eagerness to finally have two large usable pieces of storage-worthy furniture.

Tuesday was one of those, two steps forward, twenty steps back kind of days.  I unpacked and unpacked, organized and reorganized, shuffled, and finally searched in vain for a tiny place I could hide from the chaos.  To make matters worse, I realized by the end of Tuesday there was a box missing.  A box full of wedding presents, to be exact, which I really didn't want to lose before I even had a chance to use them!  Before I called the movers to complain, I had one last possibility...

The Storage Room

This is a dark, scary room in the bottom of my parking garage, which has been "subdivided" by chain link fence into tiny boxes for residents to use.  I have not been to our storage unit since I blindly asked movers #1 to put a bunch of boxes down there.  In short, I was scared.  But needs must, so yesterday I ventured down, taking my iPhone (no reception, music only), scissors, keys, and a resigned attitude.

It was bad.

One would think that movers have a sense of logical packing, since they spend days cramming other people's belongings into trucks.  Not the case, apparently.  Or at least not the case when they don't actually have to deal with it at all.

Big boxes stacked on top of small boxes.  Heavy boxes on top of light.  Brass bed frames casually draped over everything.  I had a frightening image of a Jenga tower about to topple over, and I was the one stuck on the bottom.

Like every good Jenga player (which I am not, btw.  I always make the tower fall) I studied the piles and slowly began to drag the boxes out.  It took some time before I found the likely box, but I didn't pause to investigate.  At that point I was determined to actually organize the stupid space, since I had been experiencing that mild feeling of guilt that exists when you know you SHOULD do something but have been ignoring its very existence.

What I discovered in the basement:
- the missing box
- two boxes of every day china, now properly stored
- ten - TEN - boxes of books (this is not counting the 12 boxes of books I've already unpacked, some of which were destined for storage but they ran out of room)
- two brass twin beds, now no longer perilously draped over box piles
- two Christmas boxes, which I cheerfully added to
- a mysterious bike peddle
- all my tutoring materials (I wondered where that had gone!)
- a few friendly spiders

I was proud of myself for hauling around the boxes, making nice stacks, and generally being able to lift things of substantial weight.  Then I got to the missing box, and it would. not. budge.

I tugged and I pushed and I made some unladylike noises, until I finally set aside my vanity (I can lift big things, darn it all!) and opened the box.  (It was why I had brought my scissors down, after all).

Right away, I discovered part of the problem - a bocce ball set (15 lbs) and a marble cutting board (35 lbs).  Well no wonder.  I removed the offending items, as well as a few other heavyish objects (cutting board with metal handles? surprisingly heavy metal ice bucket?) and hauled the whole mess upstairs.

I'm relieved to report that all the missing wedding gifts have appeared (and WHO packs crystal with marble cutting boards?  Apparently people who want to shell out insurance money.) plus all three of my Le Creuset pots.  No wonder I couldn't lift the darn box!

I'm also relieved to report that I no longer have to spend any time dreading a morning down in the depths of the parking garage.  The storage room has been tamed, and I'm not going back until Christmas!

Small Things

It's a small thing, going to the grocery store, but I love it.

Today I was perhaps the most annoying customer in the store... I wandered the aisles, learning what goes where and wasting brain power on another futile attempt to understand grocery store organizational logic.  I was ridiculously happy to find familiar brands, bemused by the lack of products I consider indispensable, and eager to try new things as I stumbled across them.

I had the satisfaction of pushing an (overly) full cart to the checkout, knowing that my pantry is finally going to be something more than bare.  I have a choice about what to cook for dinner, and can even change my mind now that my stock of staples is increasing from nothing to something.  Of course, I still have to organize said pantry, but that's for another day.

I ran a multitude of smaller errands without getting lost, which was also a simple joy.  All this productivity in the name of procrastination, for I neither tackled any piles, nor did I tackle any reading.  Perhaps a homemade dinner will fortify me for a lack of procrastination tomorrow!

Up to My Ears

At this point, I was hoping to be kicking back for a nice relaxing hour or two with Plato's Republic (ok, maybe I had other books on my mind, but I am trying to motivate to finally read the dialogue I haven't), but since I cannot find any of the chairs or sofas in my house, it looks like unpacking is the plan for the day.

It's amazing what chaos the arrival of furniture and boxes can achieve in an apartment.  If I look at the pile of flattened boxes in my hallway, I can be proud of what I managed to accomplish yesterday afternoon.  However, the fact that I have one small path leading to the necessary places in my house - refrigerator, bed, and bathroom - indicates that I have miles to go before I sleep.  (Amazing how Frost can stay in your head after all these years.  Need new allusions).  Also interesting is the fact that a solid quarter to third of my belongings is still in Tulsa, hopefully to arrive within a week or so.

I'm compiling a list of items I'm noticeably missing, which includes but is not limited to

• the top to my coffee table
• two bases and one top of my end tables (one top made it)
• one lampshade
• all my bowls (where did these go??)
• cookbooks
• all table related linens (and this is quite a feat, since they weren't stored together)
• pillows for my bed

An interesting assortment to say the least, and these are on top of the larger furniture items I knew were going to be in round two.  Fortunately, there are plenty of items here (the REST of my kitchenware, for example) which gives me plenty to do for the remainder of this week.  Just not reading Plato.  Or pretty much anything else, until I find a seat.  God bless audio books!

The First "Last Conversation"

I feel a bit like a vulture, but with the announcement that Borders is indeed closing its doors forever, I immediately began to scour the internet for Borders in the San Francisco area.  It was actually a bit more challenging than I had presumed, since many closed during the spring, but I persevered and located a few potential options for purchasing books-on-sale.

On Saturday I broached the idea of making a Sunday Borders run, and Stan immediately countered with "Do you need more books?"  I think I blinked my eyes and looked dumbfounded.  I'm an intelligent woman.  I played that sentence over in my head.  Yes, I knew all the words.  I could parse that sentence.  Heck, I could even diagram that sentence with ease, but still... the words did not compute.  Do. I. need. more. books.  Nope.  No idea what that even means.

After some spluttering and attempts at coherency, Stan watched me process that question, sighed, and said, "This is the last time we're going to have this conversation, isn't it?"

I'm relieved we understood each other ;-)

The Elegance of The Hedgehog

Strangely, or perhaps not considering my profession, I love browsing the tables of "Summer Reading" in bookstores.  Not, of course, the tables of the latest beach reads, but the tables of books that teachers have lovingly picked with which to torture their hapless students over the summer.

 Frequently I find myself wondering why in the world someone would choose THAT novel for summer reading (case in point: Beowulf.  I have a difficult time imagining any middle/high school student successfully navigating Beowulf on their own and coming out the other side with something other than utter and profound relief to have put that experience behind them.  Such a waste, when a month in the classroom can have your students coming in one day to inform you that they "ruined the movie with all that sex and violence.")  Other times I find suggestions to include on my own school reading lists, summer or otherwise.  And occasionally I find myself inspired to either pick up a book entirely new to me or finally read that novel that has been nagging me for years.

Enter The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.  It is no surprise that I missed the publication of this novel, for if anything happens in the world of books during a school year, I am almost guaranteed to miss it (must. not. start. new. books.).  But I picked it up on a whim, after reading the first page, and then devoured it in my usual 24 hour fashion.

So what did I think?  The honest answer? I'm not sure.  Of course, I could not put it down, which always says something.  However, the ending struck me as startling and unnecessary, which definitely colored my reading experience.  In addition, there were small details which disrupted my reading, such as the almost-too-perfect entrance of Monsieur Ozu and the camellias (a pale imitation of Proust's hawthorns).  On the other hand, the language was delightful, which can carry me far in a novel.

Without question the story and the language have both stayed on my mind, which again speaks for itself.  I think I am adding this to the list of books I think I enjoyed but could not recommend to others, a category which is only lately revealing itself in my life.

And now back to history reading!

Corn Risotto with Summer Succotash

I served this with a grilled sausage, and my non-veggie loving husband informed me that he would even like it "without any meat at all."  That's what I call success!

Ingredients


3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 cups chicken broth or water
3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears)
5 ounces mild cheese crumbled (goat cheese and feta have both worked for me)
1 cup sliced (i/4 inch) green beans (I have also used sugar snaps)
1 garlic clove, grated or minced
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/4 cup loosely packed torn fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper

The Risotto


1) Heat chicken broth or water in a small sauce pan.
2) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan.  Add 1/2 the onion and cook until tender (about 5 min).
3) Add the rice and stir until coated with oil.
4) Add wine to rice and stir.
5) When the wine is mostly absorbed, begin adding chicken stock or water, about one ladleful at a time.  Stir at each addition, and then add the next ladle when the previous addition is mostly absorbed.
6) Add 1 cup of corn with the final ladle of liquid.
7) Finish risotto by stirring in 1/2 cup of cheese until melted.  Add salt and pepper if necessary.

The Succotash

1) Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.  Add remaining onion and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).
2) Add remaining corn, green beans, and garlic and cook, stirring until the green beans are crisp-tender (about 3-5 minutes).
3) Add tomatoes, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve:  spoon the risotto into a shallow bowl and top with the succotash.  Sprinkle each serving with a bit of the remaining cheese.  Serves 4.

Recipe adapted from Fresh & Fast Vegetarian: Recipes that Make a Meal by Marie Simmons

Saturday Afternoon Perfection

Things are rolling right along at the King apartment.  This weekend is our first full weekend in town (and our last for a few weeks as well).  We've put the time to good use, enjoying having the windows open as the weather finally returned to California gorgeous (absolutely NOT missing the 100 degree Oklahoma days).

Yesterday I finally ran errands with a car.  It's a little intoxicating to walk into the grocery store and not have to think about what I can carry the mile home.  Although I'm still limited on my cooking utensils (cannot wait to be reunited with my All Clad!), I did take advantage of the opportunity to stock up the pantry a bit.  I also hit up the huge Target just blocks from the apartment - every time I've gone in there, I've gotten lost.  Of course, I also got lost in our parking garage both times I took the car out, so that doesn't say a lot for my sense of direction.

Our biggest achievement this weekend has been closet installation.  Stan installed the Elfa systems for both our closets, while I supervised helpfully.  The difference is already night and day.  It's amazing how much STUFF you can put in a properly organized space - there are drawers and shelves and hanging racks.  Definitely worth the time and money.  I'm especially glad to have that pulled together before the moving van rolls in with the next wave of boxes and chaos.

We celebrated our productive day with fruit, cheese, and champagne on our patio (yay, World Market furniture!).  I made easy cucumber appetizers, courtesy of my mother's "recipe".  Surprisingly fresh and delicious - definitely an example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

Easy Cucumber Appetizer

- thin slices of cucumber
- cracker of choice (I used rice crackers)
- hummus (I had garlic chive on hand)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

1) Spread the hummus on each cracker and top with cucumber slices.
2) Dot each cracker with olive oil, then salt and pepper to taste.

Easy and very summery.

I keep buying books because all the books I want to start reading are in a box in Oklahoma.  Has anyone read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery?  I'm on page 12.

Still Feeling Discombobulated

Here it is, two weeks after the wedding, and my fantasy of being completely settled in and in a routine is over.  Between the honeymoon (amazing!) and visiting family in Seattle (wonderful!) and the lack of furniture/clothes/belongings (frustrating!), I feel like I haven't been in one place long enough to do anything but move some piles around.

The new countdown to organization is on... the moving truck should arrive on July 27 with all my worldly possessions, so hopefully 'round about the first of August I will feel slightly more at home and settled in.  In the meantime, I have...

• cooked a delightful summer succotash (I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested)
• read several fun, fluffy novels
• started The Classical World: From Homer to Hadrian to kick off my re-acquaintance with ancient classical literature
• wandered around my new hometown, trying to locate myself and the essentials (i.e. grocery store and bookstore)

Hopefully an update soon with actual reading progress, to do list progress, and otherwise productive seeming things!

Coming soon...

... in about five weeks.