Thinking, Feeling 4.29.2014

Feeling:  
 Excited!  My husband and I have decided to start working in a new 2-5 year plan, and I am super psyched for the end result.  I am also excited to sit down and hammer out the details and start working on it.  Not excited because tight budgets suck, but excited about moving forward. 

Watching: 
I am not enraptured by any series currently.  I dedicate a part of last week to Chris Hemsworth ( always a good decision) and we've been watching Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs to fill silent space.  Mike Rowe is a cool dude.

SOURCE

Listening:

I just went to a Springsteen concert.  So lots of new and old Springsteen.  Also kind of obsessed with the single version of Defying Gravity.  Someone needs to take me to see Wicked next time it's in town.  Just saying.

Playing:

Pocket Stables is one of my absolute favorite games of all time.  It's in the Droid and Kindle store.  You buy, raise. train race and breed horses.  The breeding is the fun part because it's all about strategy and timing.  I pretty much play it constantly.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.horse_en

Reading:  

Duty To The Dead.  I am not loving it, but it is a mystery and I want to see how it ends, so I am holding on.  I am about 1/2 through and it feels like I should have been done days ago.  However, I've been on quite the spree of reading books in 48 hours or less, so that's probably why heading into a week of starting this one I am starting to get antsy.  It is part of a series that I was hoping to get into, but I think I will be one and done.

SOURCE

Looking forward to:   
Tanning, getting more information about the Masters of Business Psychology I found, lunch with a friend on Thursday... Oh and speaking of Thursday, SUPER excited about an event that day.  I am hoping to have an inspired blog about it afterward.

Making me happy:  
 Looking for tattoo ideas on the internet.  I've had 3 ish in mind for a long time, now I have a solid fourth, and I think it's about time to do something about it.  I figure I can set them up as weight loss rewards.  Kind of obsessed with maps, compasses and the "water color" effect right now. ( Sources on my pinterest board if you are interested).

What are you up to?

I Need to catch up!

I have at least 4 posts in my head that I really want to get down.  I seem to keep not writing them, however.

I am rebooting my weight loss/ work out routine.  Monday is my official soft start.  What is a soft start you ask?

1.  Be careful with food, but no hard no's
2.  Track everything I put in my mouth.
3.  Design work out plan, do not flog self for missing days.
4.  Be more active in every day life

The real start usually comes a week after.  Sooner if the tracking of food is preposterous that I say to heck with this I am losing weight!  Real start is:

1.  Be strict with food, counter any overages with exercise
2.  Track everything I put in my mouth
3.  Exercise is not an option.
4.  Be more active in every day life

 One of the blogs I read does a scale Saturday with screen shots from her scale. and her victories for the week.  I may try a version of her format here, I think it could work for me.  I love numbers, so I am always charting and graphing my weight loss but having to actually see it on the scale here has it's accountability and appeal.

Also, don't hate, but I am going to start tanning this week.  I am super white, I burn super easy, and for the last two years I have had awful  cyclist tan lines.  This year I would like to try to avoid at least some of the whole burn, tan line, burn cycle.  It's also part of a larger plot to get me to the gym when I don't feel like it.  You know, the mental mind games. I'll start with " I am just going to go to the gym to tan" and then " Well I am here I may as well hit the weights." At least that's the hope.

Today was a 14 mile bike ride at about a 13 mph average.  Not a bad soft start!  I had to take a breather and noticed this beautiful tree above me.  I might try to get my real camera out there Tuesday or Wednesday and get a better picture of it before it blooms.

How do you start your weight loss regimes?  Any tips or tricks?

Russian Winter - Book Review

(Source)

Russian Winter is the story of a Russian ballerina during the time of Stalin and what her choices have made of her life in the present day.

One of the most interesting things about this novel for me was the psychology of the people in Stalin's Russia.  In the time before the internet, and with no or restricted TV, entire generations lived under the belief that there was no other way to live.  In one scene she accidentally crosses into a non communist state and is amazed that there are Bananas for sale and no line.  One of the many examples, but I realize that I am a psychology nerd and should probably move on.

Most books that attempt dual-ling time frames fail to make you as interested in one of the stories.  For most of this book, the modern day story line was the least interesting for me.  While parts of it were very good, and would have been fine as a stand alone novel, I was still reading quickly to get back to 1940's Russia.

There is not a solid resolution to this book.  Which the older I get the more I seem to appreciate.   There are hints, and a few conflicting clues, but in the end you are left to draw your own conclusions.  This can be frustrating, but for Russian Winter it fits. 

Daphne Kalotay created two incredibly believable worlds. I have never had an interest in Russian history or the history of ballet and now I am hooked.  She provided her reference and reading materials at the end of the book and I am looking forward to reading them myself.  It is a great accomplishment for a writer to make you see, taste and touch their world.  It is an even greater accomplishment to make you want to stay there.\

5/5