Winter Time

Winter is here...noooo! The brisk, cool air and the powdery snow is like an old friend to snowboarders and winter sportsmen alike. However, for the rest of us, it's 6 months of gloomy, dark days of scraping off our frosted windshields. Basically, winter is a curse. It acts as a barrier to the outside world. Not only is it frigid outdoors, but darkness sweeps the streets at 5 pm. So long exercise, hello chocolate chip cookies! Being outside for longer than 5 minutes goes beyond the call of duty. If I'm exposing myself to the biting cold air, it better be for a good cause - like saving a kid's life or my own. All other activities are limited to taking out the trash and getting in and out of the car.

This forcible confinement inevitably leads to weight gain and boredom. Case in point...I'm writing this blog post after consuming a near triple digit amount of chocolate chips. If it were warm and light outside, my choice of activity wouldn't be the same. Exercise would have trumped the semi-sweet morsels...or at least preceded them.

Darwin believed that we evolved from apes, but another animal we may be linked to is the bear. Although we aren't as ferocious (some may argue with this) as the hairy beasts, we hibernate in the winter and store fat on our bodies to keep us warm. I would say that's pretty similar.

There were times in past winter months when my regular exercise routine felt like a 20 page term paper due tomorrow. The burden was too heavy. I would be incredibly hard on myself for not doing it. However, after losing the battle to warm sweat pants and hot chocolate (10 years in a row), I have learned that this is natural. I wouldn't want to deny nature of what it deserves, would I? I shouldn't be selfish. Nature wants me to comfortable, to eat an extra cookie or 2 than usual, go to bed early, exercise only when I feel like it (like a 20 minute bike ride on the lowest level, twice a week) and watch more movies. It's that time of year to be more giving...to yourself. It would be prudent to not let yourself go completely, but gaining a few extra pounds is not only okay, but intended.

Some of us have to do what we have to do to get through the winter. For me, it's baking gingerbread men and giving Jack Frost the finger. Happy Holidays!

Save the Date

I was going to say that I recently got a wedding invitation in the mail that said "Save the Date" to make this post relevant, but it's not true.
The thought came to me about "Save the Date" and the whole concept seems funny to me.
My roommates in Seattle would get those invitations and they would be on our fridge for what seemed like (and probably was) years.
When people send a wedding invitation requesting people to "save the date", they are asking people what they're doing Friday night in 2020.

"Will we still be friends by then?"

A lot can happen in a 8 years. People move, have kids, have financial crises and maybe even die. There could even be a 'save the date' in between someone else's 'save the date'.

Are you in denial of your own engagement? "Let's just get engaged, set a date for 5 years in the future and see what happens. Maybe if we tell our friends about it, then maybe it will make us want it more."

I support the idea of a long courtship and a short engagement. People don't really like going to weddings anyway so by asking them to reserve some date in the distant future, it causes them some committment anxiety - because they know that you know that you don't know what you're doing June 12, 2020. By technically not having any set plans on that date, you automatically feel obligated to go.

So, be kind and practical. The date is June 12, 2012. Be there or be square.

Update - I've changed my mind

Hello blog readers! That would be just me...and family members and friends who kindly read out of support or boredom.
It's been a while since my last update. I tend to go through moments where I'm really excited about a particular activity - like blogging. Then I crash and burn a few months later. "It's too much work" or "I don't feel like it." Well, today I feel like it. I'm turning over a new leaf. I listened to Elder Holland's conference talk from this last conference and it instantly changed my perspective on life. In a world of competition and envy, we are at times blinded and don't recognize what we already have. We get jealous of other people's fortunes and blessings that we neglect our own. I discovered that there comes a time when being kind and loving other people (despite what you think you lack and they so undeservedly have) is so much easier than holding on to anger, bitterness and resentment. It allows you to more fully enjoy your life and look forward to the blessings awaiting you. I have been extremely uplifted ever since.

I've changed my mind on a few of the topics I've addressed in my previous blogs.

First, Online Dating. I'll stick to one thing positive and that is that I don't regret trying it. However, I will never do it again. More bad experiences came from dating computer profiles than good. I would say that about 80 percent of the people on there are pretty odd. The common problem is people's inability to communicate well face to face. A lot of the people who date online just lack some of the most basic social skills. That's pretty big when it comes to dating. I am officially done with it and therefore, I no longer date. Haha. That's the draw back. People may be weird, but they do ask you out. I guess it's back to juggling bowling pins in a coconut bra to get noticed.

Second, Facebook. This has not changed actually. I have enjoyed the long abscence of useless updates. I don't think I will ever go back. However, I did join Twitter. I did this for work purposes. I felt I needed to be more updated on what's going in the world. It's kind of important for the field I'm in.

Well, that's it.

Would you Rather....?

My sister and I have been playing this game, "Would you rather?", for the past couple of months. There are no deck of cards involved nor dice or a game board. It's just a simple, yet not so simple, question. When one of us thinks of grotesquely comparative situations, involving anything from skin diseases to heinous dates, we pose it to the other person. They must choose! We don't challenge each other to test out their choice, but just the thought is enough to make us laugh out loud. Some examples are, "Would you rather have a date who talks really loud or stares?", "Would you rather be buried alive or eaten by a pack of wolves?", "Would you rather have yellow, crooked teeth or really bad acne?" "Would you rather eat a handful of lint or a handful of dirt?" One of my favorites (it gets me every time) came from one of my friends, "Would you rather drink a pint of pee or a handful of crap?" Those are his exact words.



One Would you Rather? has proven to be the most difficult for us fathom. My sister and I have taken opposing sides on this one. Would you rather be obese or confined to a wheelchair? I have taken the liberties (without my sister knowing) to further equate the debilitation of both situations. If you choose to be obese, you are incapable of losing the weight. No surgeries, no weight loss programs or miracle diets will change your size or improve your health. You will be obese until the end of your life. The same fate is determined for confinement to a wheelchair. Surgery, rehab and revolutionary technology are not available options.



What would you choose?



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