Tag: Blog Mark 1

December 30, 2016 – Friday 5

~ Julia ~ 1 Comment

It’s been, what — 17 jillion years since I did a Friday5? Let’s remedy that.

It’s the end of the year, and I still think I’ll do the end-of-the-year survey meme, since I was quiet on the blog front, and a whole lotta shit happened in 2016. But for now, this will suffice.

  1. What are you looking forward to in your personal life in 2017?
    I’m looking forward to deepening my lady friendships, and to also finally shed the excess I-hate-my-job-and-I’m-stressed-all-the-time weight.
  2. What’s something you’re planning ahead for?
    Just the day-to-day stuff at the moment. Though a thought that keeps flitting into my head is what the summer Family Vacation will be. Last year, I missed most of it. I’d like to repeat the Dedrick’s Take Dillon Vacation, but I’d also like to see the Ziffels Hike Ohiopyle, too.
  3. How intense is your to-do list for the last days of the year?
    Not at all. With Charlie home for Winter Break, he’s had a few things done, one of which has been knocking the IKEA RAST Nighstand Project off the list. I also need to do Round 2 of going through all of the Old Job detritus I hauled home when I left, but that’s a smaller task.
  4. What’s something you’d like to jump past, between now and the end of the year?
    I’d like to get out of New Year’s Eve festivities, if I could get away with it. I love the company I’ll keep (my in-laws), but I’d really rather just be snug in bed and passed out when the ball drops.
  5. How will you ring in the new year?
    As mentioned, probably dinner, games and ball-dropping with my in-laws at the Wee House. Would rather be asleep.
Are you interested in completing a Friday5, too? Go here for access to this and all other Friday5 archives.

January 5, 2014

~ Julia ~ 2 Comments

I could post some New Year’s Resolutions, which I still might. I may also post a year-end recap (might be a good idea), and even a post about my trip to France. But for now, here’s some liner notes about my trip to France that are bouncing around my head.

  • I prefer the Normandy region of France to the southern region.
  • For all the talk about French cuisine, I personally, was hard pressed to find fruits and veggies. Charlie asked me if I wanted to get pizza when I cam home, my response was, “No. Salad. Find me the biggest salad in Medina.”
  • What I lack in mental math skills, I make up for in navigational acuity. I’m going to chalk this up to overcompensating never wanting to get lost while taking public transportation, vis a vis…
  • I am really good at navigating the Paris metro (RATP).
  • I am very sad that Cleveland can’t get their shit together to build a better rail infrastructure.
  • Coming back from Paris, I’m surprised at how immune I’d become to seeing overweight people in the US. The “obesity problem” in this country really does appear to be an epidemic. That said, I have no idea what the answers are, but I could poke my finger in the direction of some corrective action.
  • I really enjoyed the accessibility and variety of a big city, and I could live in one. I would like living in one. But I love having the space out here in the suburbs. Again, I really wish Cleveland, it’s suburbs, and exurbs, had a better rail system.
  • Living out of a suitcase for a week — and having to repack it nightly — firstly, sucks ass; secondly, has really made me learn that I prefer to live a streamed-down life. So, when I recover from my second cold in a month, I’m going to go on a major purge.
  • Landing generally is uncomfortable on your ears. Landing with a cold is really unpleasant. Landing two separate times with a cold is agony. I was nearly in tears when we landed at Hopkins.
  • I’m really, really glad to be home.
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November 5, 2013

~ Julia

Every week on Tuesday mornings, I get up at 5:15, like I always do, feed the cat, like I always do, pack my car, like I always do. But, on Tuesdays, different from any other weekday, I get into a pair of compression capris and a loose tee so I can be at the gym 39 miles away by 7:00 in the morning.

I’ve been doing some iteration of personal training one day a week for about two years now. I’m glad for the consistency of it: there were times where the only fitness I would get in a week was my once-a-week training with my trainer. There’s just something about paying someone to make you show up that makes you show up.

Charlie’s gotten very into running in the past year, and he loves it as his sport. I, however, no matter how I tried, could not get into running. Even after my Capital City Commit to be Fit 5K declaration, I just can’t do it. I prefer to lift. I’d much rather get cut up from squats, dead lifts, and planks-with-rows than from pounding 26 miles of pavement in a weekend.

Did I mention that my parents got a rowing machine because of the one they saw on House of Cards ? Did I also mention that I am totally jealous and trying to sell my recumbent bike, janky elliptical machine, plasma and eggs to get a rowing machine of my own?  I’d sit and row for hours  over running.

Back to weight training. Over two years, it has made a big difference: there is definition in my arms, legs, calves and back that weren’t there before. Even when I was horseback riding, even when I was at my willowiest from working retail. Charlie had his arm around me the other day and commented, “Wow, you can tell your arms are really strong,” and I was pretty tickled.  The funny thing is that I weigh more now  than I did when I was at my “heaviest” when I graduated college, but I look trimmer (short of the diet soda goo around my midsection, but I’m still holding on to some addictions). Clearly, and I knew this was true, muscle weighs more than fat.

In recent months, I’m on a new medication that has really helped me jump start my motivation for fitness, and I’ve been working out on my lunch hour almost every weekday for about two months. Instead of having to wake up any earlier, or get home any later, how convenient is it to just wander down one floor, bang out a workout, and walk back up a flight of stairs? I plan on taking my workouts up a notch in the next few weeks and making the sure commitment to get to the gym on weekend mornings while Charlie is out running with his club.​

I’m enjoying turning into a gym rat. I never thought I’d say that.

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November 4, 2013

~ Julia

As much as I am enjoying finally  living with Charlie after 10 years in separate parts of the state, there is still something nice about a quiet house when he is away, catching up on Supernatural  episodes with a tubby tabby snoring in my lap.

January 6, 2012 – Friday 5

~ Julia ~ 2 Comments
2012 so far feels like a good year. Everything feels a little clearer, a little sharper, but less intimidating at the same time. I’m actually experiencing the ability to visualize success. This is proving extremely helpful, as I’ve been at the gym three times this week, which is displaying a consistency I haven’t experienced in over a year.
I’m still working on a list of not resolutions, but goals for things I want to do this coming year. A couple of them include getting my concealed carry license, learning how to ballroom dance, and getting my passport (the gun and the passport are not linked, btw). I’ll be posting that soon here, too.
And now, onwards! To the Friday 5.
  1. If they could invent a remote control for something in your house that doesn’t have one, what would you wish it to be?
    Lately, the heater in my bathroom. That would be pretty awesome.
  2. What could your car really use that they just hasn’t invented yet?
    A hydrogen fuel cell.
  3. Who among your friends could probably be a great inventor if he or she had enough funding to do it?
    I have a co-worker who has a lot of drive to create things that fix problems.
  4. What invention seems to do its job in a less-satisfying manner than the old-fashioned way?
    60% of the items that one would “See on TV.”
  5. Lately, vending machines have gone beyond drinks and snacks: you can rent DVDs from them or even purchase iPods from them. What’s something your life could be improved by if it were available in vending machines?
    I’m a total impulse-shopper. There is no reason why non-food items should be sold out of a vending machine if I’m walking around with plastic.

Source: f.riday5.org