Food food and food. Oh, and the gym

I was so hungry on the way to the gym that I ate a banana, two nectarines and an orange.
At the gym, we did elliptical and weights and rowing and walking and hot tub.
Afterwards, we picked up a dozen bagels and some dinner supplies. Hungry again, I got a bagel with egg, cream cheese, lox (2 slices!) and red onion - it was amazing.
By the time we got home from shopping, I was a little peckish again and had the last lemon poppyseed cookies with my tea before a nap.

Life is good.

Moving, stillness, silence and communication

A quick bout at the gym for elliptical and rowing before a day long meditation seminar.
Wow.
Just wow.

Such a great way to close this challenge for me, and really clarifying, too.

2016.01 Wrap Up

Holy cow - it's the last day of the challenge.
That happened fast!

Successes
+Gym membership
+Gym integration - went nearly every day. One day missed for a cold and three days missed because it was closed. I am seeing some real definition, so this is definitely the right plan for me.
+I made bagels from scratch
+I did a pull up. Then a couple days later, I did three of them. In a row.
+Old tuition balance cleared
+Registration for Spring term complete

Insights
The gym with my partner is my sanity zone. I need it, every day, sometimes twice a day.

I absolutely cannot return to IT.

I need an income, something reliable and within my power to maintain, but the upside is that I don't actually need very much.

Separate from income, I need a job, a sense of purposeful activity.

Graduation is looming large. For most people, graduation is a good thing, even a great thing. Hell, it's the whole point, right? Wrong. For me, the point was being a student, especially at my home university. My undergraduate graduation was nearly the death of me. I've carefully crafted and rearranged my graduate studies over the last several years to be patchwork, specifically to avoid graduation. I love working on papers. I love seminar classes. I love being at Hollins.

Graduating feels like becoming homeless.
It doesn't have to make sense.
May 22 2016 feels as though it should have R.I.P. next to it.

Life is good

Went to the gym with my partner this morning - while I was doing just-one-more pull up to make it four in a row (I don't release as far down between pull ups as I would like, yet), a little old lady walked by and said, "Woo. You're strong." It made me smile. Then, while I was doing inclined twisted sit ups (I'm using the 8 pound medicine ball for 16 reps because the 10 pound ball is missing and I can't do the 12 pound ball yet), I saw a bombshell of a woman on the thigh machine with a shirt that read "the only competition I have is who I was yesterday." I wanted to high five her, but we were too busy getting it done.

Ten minutes on the elliptical was murder, and then we walked the quarter mile. Rowing happened at the end of the routine, and those 1000 meters (6.5 minutes) took a lot out of me. I waved at the pool (see what I did there?) on my way to the hot tub.

After a quick shower, we headed home and then I met a friend for lunch. I had a ginormous cheeseburger and fries at an otherwise nice restaurant. The conversation was wonderful.

Life is good.

The gym happened in the evening, and my partner and I realised we need (ok, *I* need) to start the day at the gym before interacting with anyone or anything. Some people have Prozac; I have my workout.

We did the elliptical, walk, row, walk, weights then hot tub.

Chicken and Dumplings and salad and birthday cake are about to happen.

Wott?

Wait wait wait.
I can't believe I forgot to mention:
I think I did a pull up.
Yesterday.
Unassisted.

My hands were perpendicular, not parallel, so does that make it a fake pull up?

Anyway, I did it, and I was so shocked that I did a second one, just to see if I could.

Did. Not. Want. To.

Played cards after the meeting last night and was exhausted.

An early bedtime helped, but this morning I simply Did. Not. Want. To.

I did it anyway. Slow and creaking, but getting it done, my partner along with me, being part of the solution. After 8 minutes on the elliptical and 1000 meters, he went off to the weights adventure and I walked the track. My attitude shook loose after half a mile, and it was nice to walk another half mile in a pleasant, peaceful frame of mind.

The issues with my mother-in-law continue, and she is sneaking around, acting for all the world like an ill-mannered teenager. My partner and I sigh, a lot, and then deal with it as best we can, together. In many ways having her here has strengthened our communication skills, though I wouldn't recommend it - it was a trial by fire to get where we are.

I can't upload pictures through the kindle interface, so please imagine a gif of Shifu from Kung Fu Panda, in a tizzy, talking about INNER PEACE! :)