Weekend recap
Mar. 2nd, 2014 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogLisa and I had planned to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday. I even set a nice early alarm so we could get there in plenty of time. It was a pleasantly warm morning -at least compared to the week's weather- and we took a leisurely stroll toward a parking lot that Lisa wanted to show me. It had been piled high with ice and snow and been wind-scoured into some fantastic shapes! Sadly, we couldn't find it; it was either cleared out at some point, or was further up the road than she remembered. Regardless, it was nice being out for a walk; it'd been a long time! And It was even nicer seeing how well Lisa is getting around; quite a change from her post-surgery state!
So between our feet, buses, and L trains, we visited a few places on the way south. Several places that looked interesting were closed, though we did find a thrift store to peruse and a bead store going out of business where Lisa picked up some tools. We were kind of killing time before lunch, which would be at a place I had a Groupon for, the Temple Bar. It was around 12:30 when we left the bead store with food in mind, and on the way toward a bus stop, Lisa pointed out that we were near an all-you-can-eat sushi place that she's mentioned to be before as worth trying.
When it comes to all-you-can-eat sushi, my resistance is very low.
After that, it was probably getting on toward two, and the museum closes at five on Saturdays. In the end, we decided to head back to her place for dinner and some anime. She showed me the first episode of Durarara, and I am intrigued. And for dessert, another paczki each (we'd had some that morning too). I was introduced to paczki when I was living near Detroit and have made them a yearly event. I missed having a paczki around Fat Tuesday last year, and that made me sad. Lisa having some for me made me equally happy!
It was a leisurely, enjoyable day and it made me really glad that I'd worked hard at being caught up on school so I could have a low-anxiety weekend, as opposed to the last one. I was much better company this time.
I spent Saturday evening with my kitty Danae. We kept each other company while engaged in school things. I got through the rest of the first part of William Cronon's Nature's Metropolis. What a wonderful book! And parts of it connect directly to the term paper I'm doing about Kenosha and Pike Creek! I made snarky comments about what the previous owner had chosen to underline (and not underline) and she made snarky comments about the things she was engaged with. It was blissfully domestic.
And today, I made it out to Johnsburg, Illinois to visit my grandmother and aunt. I wanted to talk to my grandmother about what she remembered of Mexico from her visits to my great-grandfather and his wife when they lived in Guadalajara. We talked as well about my upcoming trip, her experience getting her masters degree at National University (before it became National-Louis) and other random things. I'm looking forward to coming back again with tons of pictures from Chiapas to show her!
It's nice connecting a bit more with my extended family. I didn't do much of that when I was younger and shy and didn't know how to be social. I had nice, easy-flowing conversations with both of them today. It makes me feel more a part of the family.
---
Speaking of the trip to Mexico, I'm leaving in just 18 days. Less than three weeks. Wow! I'm so nervous and excited! I need to read that material about the Zapatistas! Maybe I'll dig into that tonight.
---
I talked with both Danae and Lisa about my program of Fitbit-modulated activity and eating. They've expressed concern about me losing too much weight. They've both said that rather than thinking about trying to lose weight, I should, if anything, exercise and gain muscle. For my part, I agree that I'm skinnier than I'd like above my waist. However, I'm still heavier than I'd like below it. And I can't see myself ever devoting time to exercise simply for exercise's sake. That's why biking is so successful for me. It's not exercise; it's transportation, sustainability, and self-identity with a side-order of exercise. Danae pointed out that I'm within the normal range of BMI and, even with margin for error with the consumer-grade body fat analyzing scale I have, likely well within the normal range for body fat. Perhaps I should just accept that my thighs and tummy will be a little round.
On exercise though, Danae had the great idea of setting aside time for juggling practice. It's been a long time since I've done it regularly, and I'm not sure how much time I'll generally have for it, but it would be a great exercise plan for me because it would be building up a cool social skill with a side-order of exercise. I think I'll try and to ten or fifteen minutes of balls and clubs here and there. Maybe I'll even bring some to school on days when I have a break between classes. I even have a set of weighted juggling balls that would be good upper body exercise. Or I could pick up some wrist weights of the kind that often appear at thrift stores.
---
All else proceeds apace. The people I care about are largely well, my partners love me and I them, and school is manageable. Life is good at the moment.
So between our feet, buses, and L trains, we visited a few places on the way south. Several places that looked interesting were closed, though we did find a thrift store to peruse and a bead store going out of business where Lisa picked up some tools. We were kind of killing time before lunch, which would be at a place I had a Groupon for, the Temple Bar. It was around 12:30 when we left the bead store with food in mind, and on the way toward a bus stop, Lisa pointed out that we were near an all-you-can-eat sushi place that she's mentioned to be before as worth trying.
When it comes to all-you-can-eat sushi, my resistance is very low.
After that, it was probably getting on toward two, and the museum closes at five on Saturdays. In the end, we decided to head back to her place for dinner and some anime. She showed me the first episode of Durarara, and I am intrigued. And for dessert, another paczki each (we'd had some that morning too). I was introduced to paczki when I was living near Detroit and have made them a yearly event. I missed having a paczki around Fat Tuesday last year, and that made me sad. Lisa having some for me made me equally happy!
It was a leisurely, enjoyable day and it made me really glad that I'd worked hard at being caught up on school so I could have a low-anxiety weekend, as opposed to the last one. I was much better company this time.
I spent Saturday evening with my kitty Danae. We kept each other company while engaged in school things. I got through the rest of the first part of William Cronon's Nature's Metropolis. What a wonderful book! And parts of it connect directly to the term paper I'm doing about Kenosha and Pike Creek! I made snarky comments about what the previous owner had chosen to underline (and not underline) and she made snarky comments about the things she was engaged with. It was blissfully domestic.
And today, I made it out to Johnsburg, Illinois to visit my grandmother and aunt. I wanted to talk to my grandmother about what she remembered of Mexico from her visits to my great-grandfather and his wife when they lived in Guadalajara. We talked as well about my upcoming trip, her experience getting her masters degree at National University (before it became National-Louis) and other random things. I'm looking forward to coming back again with tons of pictures from Chiapas to show her!
It's nice connecting a bit more with my extended family. I didn't do much of that when I was younger and shy and didn't know how to be social. I had nice, easy-flowing conversations with both of them today. It makes me feel more a part of the family.
---
Speaking of the trip to Mexico, I'm leaving in just 18 days. Less than three weeks. Wow! I'm so nervous and excited! I need to read that material about the Zapatistas! Maybe I'll dig into that tonight.
---
I talked with both Danae and Lisa about my program of Fitbit-modulated activity and eating. They've expressed concern about me losing too much weight. They've both said that rather than thinking about trying to lose weight, I should, if anything, exercise and gain muscle. For my part, I agree that I'm skinnier than I'd like above my waist. However, I'm still heavier than I'd like below it. And I can't see myself ever devoting time to exercise simply for exercise's sake. That's why biking is so successful for me. It's not exercise; it's transportation, sustainability, and self-identity with a side-order of exercise. Danae pointed out that I'm within the normal range of BMI and, even with margin for error with the consumer-grade body fat analyzing scale I have, likely well within the normal range for body fat. Perhaps I should just accept that my thighs and tummy will be a little round.
On exercise though, Danae had the great idea of setting aside time for juggling practice. It's been a long time since I've done it regularly, and I'm not sure how much time I'll generally have for it, but it would be a great exercise plan for me because it would be building up a cool social skill with a side-order of exercise. I think I'll try and to ten or fifteen minutes of balls and clubs here and there. Maybe I'll even bring some to school on days when I have a break between classes. I even have a set of weighted juggling balls that would be good upper body exercise. Or I could pick up some wrist weights of the kind that often appear at thrift stores.
---
All else proceeds apace. The people I care about are largely well, my partners love me and I them, and school is manageable. Life is good at the moment.
