Looking Forward

I don't have a list of goals for 2016 like I did for 2015. There are things I want to do, projects I'm working on. But things will come as they come. Instead, I have a bigger, more nebulous goal in mind. It's the closest I've come to having an actual New Year's resolution in years.

In 2016 I want to learn to be more flexible.

This started on the yoga mat (oh god, I'm turning into one of those people). Physically, flexibility is something that has always eluded me. I took ballet classes for ten years and only did the splits once. I could barely touch my toes in all that time. If I'm honest, a lot of that is because I just didn't care that much. Now I do. And I'm seeing enough improvement to keep myself motivated. I'd like to be able to touch my toes, to fold in half, to splay out my legs and put my elbows on the floor. So I'm working at it and improving bit by bit.

It extends beyond the physical, though. I like my routines. I rely on them. I get stuck in them. As nice as it is to have them to fall back on, especially when I'm sick or exhausted or stressed, they can occasionally become a hindrance. It's been especially difficult dealing with Kevin's ever-changing and last-minute travel schedule. I'm hoping to figure out how to get better a this in the new year. I want to be able to go with the flow a little more, to not have my entire day thrown off when plans change or something unexpected happens.

Maybe this doesn't really count as a New Year's Resolution. It's been on my mind, and it's something I've been actively working on since mid November. But I'm still working on it. If I'm honest, I'll probably be working on it for my entire life. In this time of looking forward and setting new goals, this is the one I want to focus on.

Here's to a new year and a more flexible me. See you on the other side.

Looking Back

Coming up on the end of the year, and I thought this would be a good time to go back and see how I did with my resolutions. Without further ado:

• Plant some herbs. I'd love to have fresh basil and mint and maybe thyme available in my kitchen. And I think I can handle a small, indoor herb garden.
• I tried this! I had an herb garden for several weeks. Then the cat got mad and ate the entire thing and threw up all over the bathroom. At least he did it in the bathroom. No more herbs for me.
• Plant some tomatoes. Tomatoes are supposed to be easy, and it'd be great to have some nice, fresh ones available to eat. Especially since I just found an easy marinara sauce recipe.
• Man, I didn't even attempt this one after the disaster of the herb garden
• Learn to make jambalaya. Last year I conquered risotto and the year before that it was soup. This year: jambalaya. (My first attempt was a little too soupy. Next time will be better.)
• I did this! I made jambalaya several times. Each was better than the last, and I now have go-to recipes for a quick jambalaya-tasting dish (~25 minutes) and a more involved version. Yay!
• Bake some bread. We've got this lovely stand mixer that I never, ever use. I want to use it more. Bread could be fun, right?
• Nope, this didn't happen at all. Maybe next year? But it's so much easier to buy.
• Make pasta from scratch. See above, re: stand mixer. With pasta making attachment
• We did do this! Several times. We even did ravioli once. It was fun and delicious but also lots of work considering pasta is usually around $1/lb
• Cook more new things in general. I already moved the cookbooks out of the cupboard to help with this. If I see them everyday, I'll be more likely to actually use them.
• I think I did this? It's hard to quantify. I cooked some stuff, though
• Learn to knit? I mean, probably not. But also it could be fun. And something to do while I'm watching TV
• Definitely did not do this.
• Start building up a home gym. I want to start small: a foam roller, a mat, a set of dumbbells. Eventually I'd like to be able to cancel my gym subscription. I just need to get in the habit of working out at home first.
• I have a home gym! Mostly I use it for yoga, but those dumbbells still sit there and mock me.
• Lose some weight. It's such a cliche. For real this year, though 
• Actually I think I gained 5 pounds? Whatever
• Bike to work at least once. I'm doing decently on the exercise bike, and my office really isn't too far away. I'm planning to buy a bike in March or April and get out more. Especially if this summer is as gorgeous as last summer was. (I hope I didn't just jinx it.)
• I rode my bike to work a ton last Spring. For three months I was biking to work at least twice a week. Then it got hot. Then it got dark. But come April I should pick this up again.
• Reorganize the library/living room. I want to get a couple more bookcases for the living room and start moving some books down there. Because my library is actually overflowing.
• I did this, and I love it. But now it's time to reorganize yet again Or maybe get rid of some books?
• Pay off my student loans. This is definitely happening this year. It's barely even a goal. Still you have to put down something that's guaranteed. It makes the rest of the list easier.
• I did this, too! Goodbye student loans. Now we just need to pay off the car. And the house. 

 As for my reading goals, well I think that was an utter failure. I did complete Wheel of Time, which was well worth my time. I'm really glad that I read that series, and also that I waited until it was finished to read it. And while I did inject some diversity into my reading habits, I still mostly read books by white men. I guess that all I can do is keep trying.

I also failed to read less. As of this writing, I've read 110 books so far this year and will likely complete two more by Thursday (yeah, I know). Four of those 110 books were the Vorkosigan omnibuses, each of which contains 2 novels and 1 novella. Though that's probably balanced out by the graphic novels I included in my count. The point is that I read an absurd number of books this past year, and it did occasionally cut in to other things I could have been doing. As proud as I am of reading 100 books in a single year - it is a pretty great accomplishment - I'm once again hoping to read less next year. If only there weren't so many books that I want to read.

Then there's the writing goal. I didn't even try that hard. I half considered a few ideas, and I even came across a request for posts from a blog I frequent that I could have written something interesting for. But ultimately I didn't write anything with the intent of getting it published somewhere other than my blog. On the other hand, I now have three blogs. Maybe that counts?

Even though I didn't do everything I said I wanted to, 2015 was pretty successful. I did some cool things, read a ton of books, and generally had a pretty awesome year.

Merry Little Christmas

This year we celebrated a much quieter Christmas than I'm used to. But it ended up being a lot of fun, and I got to spend some quality time with my brother.

He came over in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve and we went down to the Kennedy Center for Kevin's mom's Christmas concert. Kevin usually drives to these concerts, so it probably isn't a huge surprise that I got very lost. I missed my exit and ended up doing a big loop, crossing the Potomac three separate times before we finally found our way into the parkign garage. Luckilly, we had planned to arrive half an hour early. We ultimately made it to our seats a few minutes before the concert started.

The concert was lovely, as always. It didn't include music from any other countries this year, but that turned out to be a timing thing. A choir visiting from the Phillipines performed with them on the Gala Night, the main concert event, but elected not to stay for the Christmas Eve concert. Instead, we got some fun performances from a trumpet soloist.

After the concert we went to a friend's house for champagne and appetizers for a couple of hours. The group was much smaller than normal, as Kevin wasn't the only person unable to spend Christmas in Virginia this year. Then it was back home for a dinner of sausage and pasta and movies and wine with Connor.

I got him to watch Pride and Prejudice, which I've been wanting to rewatch for a few weeks now. Then we started The Tenth Kingdom, but Connor fell asleep before long, and I wasn't too far behind him.

On Christmas morning, Connor and I slept in until after 8, probably the latest either of us has slept on Christmas. Then we opened presents and made pancakes and called dad while we took Kina for her morning walk. After that we dove back in to The Tenth Kingdom. It was on in the background for most of the day while we visited and worked on a puzzle.

We met up with Pat for an early dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant in the area. The place was unbelievable crowded, even during our 4:30 reservation. But the food was well worth the wait, and it was a nice change of pace to go out on Christmas instead of cooking and facing a heap of dishes afterwards.

After dinner, Connor and I went back home and finished The Tenth Kingdom, then rounded off the evening with a few episodes of Angel, which Connor always preferred to Buffy. Overall it was a really nice, lowkey Christmas. I'm glad I was able to spend it with the family I had here, msotly hanging out in my pajamas and watching old movies. All things considered, it was about as perfect as it could be.

Yoga Check In

I'm about halfway through the 30-day yoga challenge, and it this point it's looking like I will make it all the way through. I'm planning to start over again once I finish. Or maybe start doing some other yoga videos? Mostly I just want to keep this up. I like the way I'm feeling. I like that I can see myself improving, almost day to day. And I like the control I'm gaining over my body.

I still struggle with some of the poses. But others come much easier, which helps me stay motivated. And even the ones that I'm having trouble with, I'm already noticing improvements on. The nice thing about starting over from the beginning is getting to go back through and realize that I'm already stronger and more flexible than I was a month ago. I may still have trouble touching my toes, and I may continue to fall over, but I'm holding poses longer and sinking into them deeper.

It's also leaking out into my life a little bit, too. I know it's easy to roll your eyes at people who really embrace yoga as a lifestyle, I know I have in the past, but I'm starting to see how it can happen. When I find myself stressed about something at work, I can now slip pretty easily into a couple of deep breaths or a moment of grounding myself and get back on track much quicker. I don't know how far I'll really go with this, but for now it's working great.

Early Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas a week early. The Friday before Kevin left for Hawaii, we invited his mom and my brother over for a lamb dinner. Jen and Steve came out, too, and spent the night before their early-morning flight out of Dulles.

Kevin prepared an excellent lamb dinner with roasted potatoes and a delicious loaf of bread. His mom contributed a green bean casserole. We ate and drank wine and talked, and I was grateful that Kevin had been able to do all of the shopping and cooking.

Before dinner, we exchanged gifts with Kevin's mom. It was a little more rushed and chaotic than most years, which has become a bit of a theme for this year's holiday. After dinner we exchanged gifts with Jen and Steve. Then we we finished off the bourbon I bought for Kevin last year and played a game.

We couldn't stay up too late, because everyone had planes to catch the next morning. But it was nice to get a chance to visit and eat some good food. As weird as it is to celebrate Christmas so early, I'm glad we fit the celebration in before Kevin left.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Back when the release date for Star Wars was announced, I began to consider taking the next day off from work so I could go to the midnight premiere. I haven't been to a midnight premiere since college. The last few times I've attended movies that began after 10 I fell asleep in the theater. But for Star Wars, I was willing to insert an IV drip of caffeine so I could thoroughly enjoy the first showing.

It turns out that I'm not the only one for whom midnight premieres aren't exactly feasible, and the industry is beginning to realize this. Across the country, the movie was shown at 7 PM on Thursday. A cynical person might call this a money grab (Star Wars shattered records, and I'm sure at least part of that is because of the extended opening weekend), but I was thrilled for the earlier showing that meant I wouldn't have to chug coffee or miss work.

I was even more thrilled when Zach discovered that we could get tickets to see the movie at the IMAX at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was perfectly nerdy, and exactly the right place to enjoy the new Star Wars film. There was even something special about it being one of the few theaters to show it on film rather than digitally, not that I'm the sort of person who can tell the difference.

I wore my Jedi dress to work and was sorely disappointed by the reactions of my coworkers. Many of them hadn't even realized that Star Wars was premiering that day. One person complimented my hood, but then she admitted that she'd never seen Star Wars before. But it was all fine, because as soon as work was over I caught the train downtown.

Zach had arrived early to pick up tickets and secure a place in line. I snarfed a sandwich on my walk over because I wasn't expecting the Smithsonian to have food available. I was pleasantly surprised to find a concession stand that sold both food and beer. Our group stood in line drinking beer, talking, taking pictures, and generally getting really excited.

The movie itself was fantastic. I had done my best to lower my expectations, which worked in my favor. The plot itself was somewhat predictable, as though a fan were writing fanfiction of the original movie. But that's exactly what it was (albeit with an enormous budget), so I can't really fault it too much. The predictability drained the tension of a handful of scenes. But the movie was so much fun that I couldn't really care that much.

We ended up in the very front of the theater, so close to the screen that I had to physically move my head from side to side to read the rolling text in the beginning. The corners of the screen were outside my vision. It made for a delightfully overwhelming experience. Though I do want to see it again on a more normal sized screen, so I can better appreciate the movie as a movie and not just an experience.

This was the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. Possibly in my life. I'm so glad the movie was as good as it was, and I'm really excited for the sequel. Here's hoping for another fun night at the Smithsonian in a few years.

Busy, Busy

Ever since getting back from Thanksgiving, it's felt like we've been going non-stop. I rolled from the holiday into a week of 12-hour days. Well, they were 8-hour days, but they were a two hour drive from my house. And they were full of meetings. Nothing but meetings. By the end of it, I was so exhausted that I skipped my Christmas party.

That weekend was spent cleaning and catching up on things I'd intended to catch up on while Kevin was in Hawaii. And continuing to recover from the extended work week. And just feeling down. I canceled my Sunday afternoon plans, opting to stay home and write and wrap presents. Then I just watched TV instead. It was frustrating to want to do things and just not be able to find the energy to do any of it.

But I rallied on Monday, and we went over to watch the football game with Kevin's mom. I actually only stayed for the first half, because I do need my sleep.

The following weekend was Mudd's 60th Anniversary Party, so we met up with a bunch of Mudders for an early happy hour in Adams Morgan. It was fun to see people we haven't seen in many years, and we got some light-up shot glasses. Though I think I'm past the point in my life where I want more shot glasses. Not that I was ever that big on shots anyway.

After the happy hour we went to a party at Jen's house. It's a little awkward arriving at a potluck with no food, but we tried to make up for it with alcohol. After a delicious dinner, it was back to Zach and Sarah's place for beer and card games and the first part of our fractured gift exchange. Sarah got me a Jedi dress, that I've been waffling on buying for several months. I'm so glad she got it for me, because I may never have bought it for myself (I have a thing about buying clothing without trying it on first), and I love it dearly. It's super comfortable with deep pockets and a deeper hood and I get to pretend I'm a Jedi when I wear it.

The next day, Zach and Sarah came out to our place so we could go to a sports bar that airs all of the football games and serves relatively cheap mimosas ($30 for a magnum of champagne and a pitcher of orange juice). We did the second part of our fractured gift exchange, watched some football, and then watched The Empire Strikes Back in preparation for the new Star Wars movie.

All in all it's been a very busy couple of weeks. As much as I look forward to a big holiday, it's nice to not have to worry about cleaning too much this year. This week has been all about relaxing and regaining some balance in my life. That's usually reserved for the beginning of January, but it's nice to have it come a little early this year.

Searching for the Holiday Spirit

December is always a busy month. With the holidays come many more social commitments. Work holiday parties, work deadlines, time spent with friends before everyone leaves town for a week or two, plus all the gift shopping and wrapping and decorating on top of it. I always know this is coming, and despite my introvert tendencies, I'm usually excited about it. December also brings with it a jolt of energy.

At least it usually does. The long nights and cold air always seem to bring me to life. When the sun has set before I even leave the office, I'm left with a nice, long evening that always feels longer than it is. Cooler temperatures invigorate me. And the twinkling lights and good cheer keep my spirits up. Not to mention that the first (and second and third and maybe all of them) snow fall often has me almost literally skipping around my office.

This year I'm not feeling it. My social calendar has been as busy as ever. But instead of my usual excitement and energy I've been feeling lethargic. I'm going to blame a lot of it on the weather. Winter is simply refusing to show up. A week ago we actually turned the heat off and opened our windows because it was so warm outside. We've barely had a frost. And while it's been very wet, that's mostly just translated to a warm, muggy feel. Like summer, but dark.

The other reason I'm not feeling it is Kevin's work schedule, which has him in Hawaii for three weeks over Christmas and New Year's. I really shouldn't complain too much. He loves his job, and he'd been wanting to travel more. In the scheme of things this is only one Christmas. We'll have many more together in the future. And once this project is through his travel schedule should die down some, or at least become more reasonable and predictable.

But it does mean that I'm going to have a very small Christmas this year. We didn't get a tree or do any decorating, because I was worried about my ability to take it down by myself. Instead of a big home-cooked meal, I'll be going to a nice restaurant with my brother and Kevin's mom. Again, I shouldn't complain. I have family in the area, dinner will be nice, a few traditions are still in tact. But for someone who enjoys and has grown accustomed to huge, whirlwind Christmases full of family, food, and alcohol, it's hard not to feel at least a little let down this year.

I'm trying my best to look forward to the little things, like my four-day weekend coming up (also, thanks to the cruise, I can't take any extra time off for Christmas this year). The holiday is almost over, Kevin will be back home before I know it, and maybe winter will decide to show up at some point. Plus, I have all sorts of writing to catch up on. In the meantime, I'll muddle through as well as I can.

Thanksgiving

We had a bit of a travel snafu over Thanksgiving this year, but everything ultimately worked out. More or less.

Kevin and I are planners. Which means that we bought our tickets to go to Colorado for Thanksgiving back in June. Then Kevin started a new job and his first business trip kept getting re-scheduled and pushed back until it became apparent that he would be spending Thanksgiving in Hawaii. So he went out there and canceled his ticket to Colorado. No sooner had he done that then his trip got cut short. He ended up in Virginia, hanging out with friends for the holiday while Connor and I went back home to see family.

Other than that, the trip was a lot of fun. We got in Wednesday evening, and by a travel-related miracle made it from plane to baggage claim to dad's car in about half an hour. Which also included meeting up with my aunt and cousins who'd flown in from California on a different flight. The whole thing went down with amazing smoothness and we were able to spend a lot of time visiting that evening.

On Thanksgiving Day itself I sat in the kitchen and drank wine and kept everyone's glasses full while they all cooked. It was nice to not be hosting this year. I had fantastic conversation with my aunt and my dad's step-brother's wife (step-aunt? I'm almost more inclined to refer to her by the catch-all "cousin"). We ate delicious food. And between the wine, the jet lag, and my four hours of sleep the previous night, I was passed out on the couch sometime around 8. I completely missed pinochle.

The next day aunt and cousin came over with my cousin's daughter who is just about 18 months old. It was a lot of fun to see them and my baby cousin who I live entirely too far away from. Then my mom came to pick us up and we went back to her place for sausages and television.

On Saturday we met up with my other aunt and cousin for lunch and Settlers of Catan (the Star Trek edition, naturally). Then mom took my brother and I out for a delicious dinner. I had scallops and bacon in a cream sauce and my mom got these delicious pear-cheese ravioli things.

The trip was, as always, a bit of a whirlwind and jam-packed with family. I'm going to need to do a non-holiday week-long trip back to Colorado at some point so I can catch up with everyone in a slightly more relaxed setting. Not to mention that it'd be nice to go in the summer when my aunt's cabin is open for the season. In the meantime, I'm glad that I at least got to see everyone.

Recommiting to Yoga

Predictably, I did not make it through the entire thirty days of yago. Though I actually did pretty well, all things considered. I made it fourteen days into the challenge, and the only day I missed was one on which I was not home long enough to do yoga. 

But then Thanksgiving happened. I was being too optimistic in thinking that I'd find a time and place to do yoga while surrounded by family and wine. Oh well. After I got home, I was planning to jump back in. But a few 12-hour work days got in the way of that. I was too exhausted to even think about yoga. Then again, part of the exhaustion was from my stress-fueled insomnia. I was maybe sleeping 6 hours a night, and I'm sure that if I'd managed to do some yoga, I'd have been relaxed enough to actually fall asleep. It's a vicious cycle.

So now I'm back to it. I decided to start back at the beginning of the 30 day cycle i was watching, rather than pick back up with day 15. This way it'll be a little easier to track that progress this time around.

I also like that I can already tell that a few things are coming easier. I still struggle mightily with downward dog. I think my biggest problem is that I have no idea how to modify it so that I can improve. But I've noticed improvments in other areas. I can touch my toes occasionally. I can hold lunges a little longer. It's heartening to see these little improvements. And with no travel in the foreseeable future, I ought to be able to make it through all 30 days.

Bits and Pieces

It figures that I would commit myself to three blogs and then immediately stop writing for two weeks.

Well, it's not that I haven't been writing at all. But I've written very little and posted nothing at all.

Kevin's business trip got cut short, so he came home shortly after my last post. Then I went home for the holidays and spent all my time drinking wine and visiting with family. I got home late on Sunday, and now I'm in the midst of a string of 12-hour work days without a computer. So I'm squeezing this post in in the evening.

I'm behind on my book reviews, but those should be easy to bang out once I have some uninterrupted time with my computer. I'm falling behind on my alphabet project. Or rather, I've been having a hard time getting started. But I think I can catch back up before they're due to start posting this weekend. Maybe. I'm not giving up yet, though.

I've been considering getting a chromebook or a cheap laptop to give me some more mobility with this whole writing thing. It would have been nice to have something along my Thanksgiving trip home to keep me from falling quite so far behind. And it'll be nice to carry it to the couch and such. I've tried writing on my tablet, but it doesn't really offer everything I want (a full keyboard, the ability to schedule blog posts).

Of course, I also recently lost my phone, and it's showing no sign of returning to me. It's looking like I'll have to buy a new one this weekend. And we just bought a TV. And we need a new water heater. And it's nearly Christmas. Now probably isn't the right time to buy a laptop just because.

Then again, sales. And convenience.

I'm on the verge of rambling. There's so much going on and I have so many thoughts that it's hard to wrangle them all. But this has been an update on the basics. If I'm able to work a short day on Friday, you can expect more then.