Lists

Since I am trying to get back into writing more in general, I took the alphabet list idea from a friend's blog and thought I would give it a try.

A- Agony... Ready for the cold weather to be over. Ready to start feeling more put together and tired of agonizing over it all.

B- Budget. I took this one from Devon but it is a good one. I am working on it. Almost out of debt with the exception of student loans and personal loans. This is a big step for me. Looking forward to paying off all personal loans by end of spring mid-summer.

C- Crisis... Been reading Countdown to Final Crisis and it finally got interesting at the mid-point of the 3rd trade paperback. I was so engrossed in the story, I forgot I was watching basketball last night.

D- Dang: The month of March has gone faster than any month I have had since moving to Valpo. I can't believe I am coming up on a year living here soon.

E-Ego and Exercise: Letting go of the ego is hard to do. I have a hard time sitting down to meditate and to exercise regularly these days. Time to start doing both.

F- Finding: I am finding things. Where they go and how my life fits here. I am finding that being stripped down of the entire concept of who you thought you were and what your goals were is a frightening and somewhat exhilarating process.

G – Graham crackers: been cravin 'em.

H- Heat: I want to turn off my heat. I want to feel the heat of the sun on my skin as I bike through the spring and summer air. I want to feel the heat of another human next to me.

I- Intrinsic: I love the Buddhist idea that people are intrinsically good. Pema Chodron writes that we come equipped with everything we need in this live. We more or less have to clear the clouds of fear and ignorance, let go of ego and accept that suffering is a part of life.

J- Jumping. I have a way of jumping into things figuring I can sort out the details later. I am learning as I get older to slow down and think about it more. Although the thrill of diving right in has always been a good feeling to me.

K- Knowledge: Another one I am taking from Devon. Learning new things every day. Reading, learning and understanding. Wanting to go back to school and do more of all of that.

L- Listlessness: Wondering if I made the right decision with the move. Wondering what I am missing by being here. Until I typed this, I also assumed at the darker moments that anywhere else would be better. Typing it up now, makes me realize I am starting to think it is not so bad and it could have been much worse. My job has been amazing and pretty fulfilling. My coworkers are all great and managing students is pretty fun. I had a student stop by to tell me he got into the grad school he wanted. It made me happy.

M- March Madness. I have been totally absorbed in the world of college basketball. Which has been great given how sick I had been. Now I am feeling better and the season is about to end. Go Butler. And how about that OSU/Kentucky game? Bracket officially busted. But I am ok with that.

N- Nighttime: I have been enjoying nighttime more. One reason is it is staying lighter longer. The second is coming home to Pico's cute little nose. I have missed having a cat. And even though he is a hand full sometimes, we are figuring it out.

O- Organization: I remember a time in my life where I was fairly organized. It was piles here and there. But I knew where everything was at and my bills were paid on time. I love that I am returning to a more organized model of existence. Even my desk at work has been less cluttered lately.

P- Pico and Procrastination. Pico what more can I say beside cute cat and turning into a good little friend. Procrastination: still fighting the daily battle.

Q- Quinoa: Got to find a good recipe and make some soon.

R- Rango: Definitely do not want to see that movie.

S- Scrapping: I was thinking about today how I am glad I am no longer scrapping by as I did in college. I have first world worries. They are random and neurotic depending on the day. Mainly they revolve around attempting to eat healthy, finding a partner (this has been a big one thanks to spring), going back to school and possible infertility. For me these had been big concerns, but now I am simply grateful for what I have. My first world worries don't seem so bad.

T- Thinking: I am over thinking about how I am giving up over-thinking everything once and for all.

U- Underestimating. first thing to came to mind.

V- Vicarious: I have made a vow to not live vicariously through the people I love and admire but to build the life I want for myself instead.

W- Weekends. They have been filling up fast and that is a very good thing. I booked pretty solid for the next couple months. My activities involve geeking out at a con, jazz music, a 5k, camping and a trip to Florida. That is a life I can live with.

X- Xylophones: Definitely have to start seeing more live music.

Y- You: Do I know you? Have we met? Are you my best friend?

Z- Zippyness: I walk at minimum 2 miles a day during the week. My guess is I most likely walk roughly 3 to 5 miles depending on the day and weather. However, I was googling something and came across some post in an old running forum I was a part of. It made me want to start running again. My first 5k is coming up in May, and I will most likely be a part of the walking crowd on that one. But since I started trying to quit smoking, I have had the goal of running a 5k and hope to do it before the Popcorn Panic. It will be 2 full years of quitting smoking this summer, the time is now folks. If not the Popcorn Panic will be my first 5k. That is months away thought. I want to be zippy!

a new kitty and a decent month

I am not good at keeping up to date with the whole blog situation. Time just has a way of passing quickly and life gets busy with a million other things. I have now lived in Indiana for about 7 months. Where has the time gone?

The time has flown that is where. The holidays and getting settled into my apartment have consumed a lot of my time. Going out of town has been the other big time consumer. Lately, I have been feeling like I need to spend a bit more time in town establishing a life here.
A big step in that direction for me was getting a cat. I love cats. I have not had my own cat in about 4 years since my wonderful old man cat passed away. I adopted a wonderful little gray kitty last weekend. It is strange to have another living being to come home to at night. It is refreshing in so many ways. He is super affectionate as well.

This past month has been both one of the better months I have had here and one of the hardest. Many things have happened since the beginning of February. Mainly in the last 2.5 weeks.
I have had many wonderful visits with friends where I used to live. I got to see their new child, eat breakfast scramble and read the NYTimes with another, explore the area I live more with my wonderful friends that came to visit. All of these things made me so happy.

I also went to church for the first time in a long time. I always have found it very unnerving to go into a new church for the first time. A lot of that feeling is my own inner conflicts. However, I felt wonderfully welcomed this go round. I felt instantly welcome and not in a "I'm gonna save your soul" kinda way. But more in a good to have you here kind of way. I plan on returning this coming Sunday as well as attending a social event they are hosting on Friday evening.
Today, I also took a huge step toward starting grad school either in the summer or fall. I had a leftover bill from undergrad preventing me from getting my transcripts. It felt good to put that check in the mail today. So hopefully by the end of the month, my application will be in for grad school. Sweet. I am almost out of most of my debt that is not related to student loans and personal loans. It feels good to be making a dent on it and that my friends are awesome and patient with me.

The most difficult aspect of the last month has been getting some medical issues dealt with. Thankfully I have a doctor that I feel like listens to me and is all about my best interests. The one downside is that the medicine I am on makes me exhausted and emotional. Hopefully that will work itself out. The medicine has helped with a lot of things right away, just need to work past the exhaustion. Normally I wouldn't blog about things as personal as this but I am still coping with it all.

Overall things seem to be heading toward the up.

November Check-in

Well I am moving into my 4th month in Valparaiso. Not sure I am ecstatic to be living here, but getting more comfortable here. After a hard month, I am settling in. This past week was busy with normal things that happens when you settle in somewhere. Lunches and dinners with friends/coworkers/family and general hanging out with folks. And I had my first week of volunteer tutoring. All on top of work which shows no signs of slowing down at the moment. This week will be 2 days of blur I am sure. I have a big lunch at the law school tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and Tuesday I have a dentist appointment in the middle of the day. Then a wonderful and much needed respite.

In other news, last week was my first full week of p90x. My body is not quite sure what to do with it. last night I was asleep at 9 and got a good 12 hours of sleep in. I am considering using the nutrition plan starting the first week in December. Seems like a lot of work/prep/monies.

Thankfully I have a partner in crime for Yoga X. 90 minutes of yoga is challenging especially getting through those first 45 minutes. However, we actually had fun despite the fact I can not do the crane. I now have a new goal.

I did a butchered version of the p90x lean schedule for this first week. Next week will be full schedule. Here is what my schedule amounted to:
Sunday: Kenpo X (by far my favorite workout)
Monday: Core Synergistics
Tuesday: off day
Wednesday: Cardio X
Thursday: Yoga X
Friday: off
Saturday: another day of Kenpo X

Next week the schedule will hopefully look a bit more like this holiday and out of town permitting

Monday Evening: Core Synergistics
Tuesday Morning: Cardio X (my downstairs neighbor is out of town so I am taking advantages and doing cardio in the morning)
Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper
Thursday Morning: Cardio X, Sweat 5-6, Kenpo X or Sweat 3-4 depending on my mood. Usually Thursdays are Yoga X schedule days right now, but skipping that due to Thanksgiving morning.
Friday: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper
Saturday Kenpo!
I may take one of these days off depending. I work best on a 5 day a week workout schedule. The 6th always seems a bit much.

Well this was a pretty boring update, but it has been that kind of Sunday. Just ready to relax this week.

Hon Kee on Argyle and getting to know my dad

Yesterday brought my monthly trip to Schererville to visit with my dad. I decided to tag along on their trip to Chicago. If for nothing else, but to eat a good meal. A favorite of theirs for food is Hon Kee on Argyle. It is an old haunt for them from the days of living in the city. I really wanted Vietnamese but was ok with Chinese. Our table quickly became full with good food. Pork fried rice, broccoli rabe with oyster sauce, bbq pork with beancurd, dumpling soup and sweet soy milk. While I am not vegetarian fully, I let go of any attempt to be with this meal. My favorite being the broccoli. Next time I go I am thinking broccoli and soup.



This all brings me to getting to know my dad. Part of the reason I moved to Valparaiso was to maybe get the chance to do just that. If I could separate myself from the tension filled relationship with my father from my youth, my dad is a cool guy. I assume part of having an adult relationship with my father is doing just that. Learning to get to know him as he is. Things I like from/about my dad are few so far but good. He taught me the best way to cut and eat mangoes. Mango with lime is fantastic. Truman Capote is his favorite author. He reads A Christmas Memory every year. At his insistence, I will be checking out Capote's Selected Writings to read this month. He also has seen most of Pedro Almodovar's movies although he does not seem to share the enthusiasm I have for them. And there is lots to discuss with him about cooking. So far getting to know my dad is moving along as much as it can.

In other news, the last weekend was kind of blah. Partly because I was sick and partly because I am working on fitting into a new identity that I did not have living in CU. Two interesting things have changed some perspective on life going into the week. 1. Was a trip to Chicago. I found myself looking at neighborhoods as possible living places. Not great neighborhoods granted but realizing I could theoretically afford to live in the city at some point given a job. A recognition of change of social status from student to full time employed. Felt weird regardless.
The second was clearing out my google reader. I am trying to simplify and get back to the things I love to do instead of feeling overwhelmed.
While clearing it out, I stumbled across the blog Teaching Cancer to Cry. It is written by Ezra, a bike designer in NYC, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. He went into remission and now the cancer is back Stage 3. His writing is stark, beautiful and honest. I love reading his blog. I came across it from another bike blog that I read and he had stopped updating after he went into remission. He writes about food, his worries, his wife and bikes. I am not completely sure how it changed my perspective but it is on my mind.

Busy week and quick fried "chicken" salad

So I definitely carried the momentum from Monday into the rest of the week. I am hoping this is a sign of things to come. I got some things done around the house, and my office is almost clean, organized, and usable for things. I signed up for the gym and did a couple solid workouts. The gym is closed this weekend which may end up being fine given the fact I am sick. This week has been pretty slow cooking wise. Had some social obligations etc.. Mostly I ate the red lentil dal I made Monday night for lunch most the week. I believe that could be a staple for the winter. Recipe from Happy Herbivore blog can be found here. I had it with homemade whole wheat beer bread.
Dinner consisted of chocolate peanut butter protein shakes and a version of a fried "chicken" salad. I like this dinner because its quick and filling right after the gym if I have plans on a week night.

spinach fried chicken salad
ingredients: Serving 1
2 cups spinach
1/8 cup goat cheese
1 teaspoon raisins
1 large carrots peeled and cut to your liking
2 morningstar farms buffalo wings (cooked and cut into pieces)
Honey mustard dressing
1 part honey
1 part spicy brown mustard
apple cider vinegar to taste and to thin to desired consistency

mix and serve

This weeks menu is still in the making. But will include vegan ice cream, pumpkin smoothies, and french toast

Food, Valpo and Living in Indiana

3 months down in Valpo and life is finally starting to hit a rhythm. I am finding my true joy since I have been here is cooking. Valparaiso lacks a variety of food options. Specifically Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese. So in the last 2 months, I have been learning to make things I like here. Last nights dinner was a red lentil dal, and it was not bad. Been picking up supplies at random on various trips out of town and have built a decent pantry that has a lot of the basic for Indian.

Last night was one of the first times since relocating that I felt I am finally settling in. Mondays are my late night to work, but still found time to shop and cook. Had a fantastic meal and watched Dr. Who. And was not in bed at 8:30 on a Monday night like I had been doing.

So one can expect a decent amount of talk about food and cooking here. As well as other things.