Nearly Two Months.

It’s crazy how time can slip by. February is always a crazed month for us, but once I let myself off the hook for the daily blogging habit, it was tough to find a new lower intensity groove.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been time well spent, and that I haven’t made real progress or stuck to my stated intentions:

1. Move more.
2. Eat less.
3. Write more.

Number One – Move more

• I’ve continued to hoop, and can now do some pretty sweet tricks, while still proudly embracing my right as a beginner to drop the hoop often and loudly.
• During the month of February I shoveled a full-on shit-ton of snow. Come on, I still can’t decide where I stand officially on the swearing in my own blog, but for anyone who lived thru the Snowpacalypse, there is no other measurement than “shit-ton” to describe the amount of shoveling we had to do
• I was already doing a lot of walking, but we enjoyed several weeks of “rent-a-dogs” during the month of March, so the additional early morning and late night “I hope we make it through the night” walks really chalked up the extra activity points

• 

  Foxes in Boxes Burn Extra Calories

Number Two  - Eat Less

• smaller portions and
• less junk food
• less often
• combined with Number One for a net loss of 13 pounds! Oh yeah! Although it’s kind of gross and embarrassing that I had that much to loose in the first place, and about that much more I’d like to. I’m really loving this.

Number Three – Write more

• This has taken on an interesting twist.
• Where I assumed this would mostly mean blogging, the last couple of months has indeed included a LOT of creative and persuasive writing skills.
• I’ve written some of the most fantastic email communications and invitations to an amazing host of folks, including THE Craig of Craigslist, to create a totally amazing lineup for TEDxPotomac, an independently organized TED event as part of the TEDx initiative, which will take place on May 20, 2010, at the George Washington University Bett’s Theatre.

I happened to meet the lead organizer, Patrick Smith, COO of Market Hardware, a few days before the first organizing meeting for TEDxPotomac. On that first snowy Saturday in December I raised my hand and volunteered to organize some information on the website. Somehow since then I became the lead curator and Chair of the Presenters Committee.

While flying by the seat of my pants and treading in the deep waters of many things I’ve never done before, I’ve met some amazing people. The event may be just one day in May, but these months have enriched my life for years to come. I know I’ve added many new lifelong friends to my circle.

And these friends – some new, some renewed – have inspired and energized me in so many ways. So I find myself, once again here at the literal eleventh hour racing to beat my self imposed deadline of midnight before this next month is up.

My daughter just informed me that I gave out lots of kisses and have been very smiley today. I tell her it’s because I’m happy with all the work I’ve been doing, that hard work makes me happy, because hard work pays off.

But, of course, it was actually really easy.

As easy as 1, 2, 3.

Give or take an inch, or a mile, or a month. Or two.

Thank you to those who have sent good vibes and good feedback. I’m so grateful for your support.

The nature of the blog has also served well to keep me motivated to stay engaged with other intentions for 2010 – I’ve continued to Move More, and even Eat (a little) Less, resulting in net loss of a few pounds, and supporting a general net gain in positive life satisfaction. I like this math.

Even though February is a short month, which might make daily posting seem easier after a 31er, I’m going to ratchet down the posting days this month to just 4-5 posts per week on weekdays. This should allow me to focus on both casting my net a little further via other social media and improving the quality of my posts.

One of the more surprising revelations this month has been the tremendous amount of spam comments I’ve received. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve received but one legitimate comment. Although, I’m actually quite fascinated by spam and spammers and their relentless creativity for finding new ways into our inboxes, just once I’d like to check those comments and find something real.

So this leads to my “special favor” to ask of you: If you are true friend or fan, or if you even just happened to “stumbleupon” this post and you happen to know the name of the band and/or song from which I’ve borrowed the title of this post – please leave the answer with a real “comment” for me.

It would be a sweet and beautiful Karmic Coincidence if I could get 31.

Yipes! I’m late for Hoop class, and it’s a bit of a walk. I must publish and run.

I’m in a quandary over whether I should allow myself to skip today and post two tomorrow because my BFBeth is coming to town, and I must leave toute suite.

I’m electing to reprogram this apparent Kobayashi Maru and make a simple post of one of our last days together here in DC in 2008 before she up and left me for some bright lights and a big city.

For the nine years we’ve known each other, we’ve celebrated our birthday together eight times. We had an awesome surprise on this last one. Look who was sitting next to us.

B. Stan Lee and Me!

I’m not one to like to bother the celebrity types when they’re out living their lives, but I’m a huge Stan Lee fan.

He could not have been more kind or gracious. Good karma.

When you’re a small, start-up “homepreneur”, intentionally or not, if you’re lucky enough not to be wearing that hat yourself, the ITG is probably your husband, wife, partner or roommate. If that’s the case, chances are at some point you’ve experienced moments of domestic discontent when technology at the ol’ SoHo isn’t quite as quick and easy As Seen On TV.

Perhaps, you’ve secretly wished you could either fire the entire department or hire a customer service intermediary trained not to mock, smirk, roll-eyes or talk to you like you’re a child. Well, the VP of IT @viciousyoga, who has held the position for almost twenty years, has undeniably earned his tenure, so firing is out of the question. However, during a recent prolonged and bumpy total Snow Leopardization of the Hoffman-Ingber household, there were definitely a couple of days when I would have paid a significant sum to avoid a few of these scenes with my own beloved resident Nick Burns.

That’s why we both laughed so hard while we watched the most recent episode of our new favorite TV show, Modern Family. (You can watch the full episode there on abc.go.com. However, ironically, if you’re on a Mac and use Safari and have survived your own Snow Leopardizing, abc.go.com does not support OSX 10.6 at the moment, but Firefox will work.)

Raining on the Snow Leopard Parade

Like Phil Dunphy, the love of my life has recently expressed an interest in purchasing a souped up home theater. Since I can see 2 broken DVD players, an AIWA mini stereo without functional CD or cassette, a VCR (that works!) from 1985 and about 7 remote controls from where I sit, I can only imagine how much fun that project will be for me.

On the other hand, I also could not have imagined the ultimate customer service excellence I experienced after my last post. I was truly surprised and delighted to discover that between hitting the “publish” button and brushing my teeth and jumping into bed with him, my dear ITG had worked his ninja hacker magic on the interwebs, logged in to my computer and stealthily placed in my iTunes full MP3 versions of all of the Lullaby Renditions of Nirvana, even though I was once again barely making my self-imposed daily deadline of posting by midnight.

Like he’s done a zillion times over his long career as my CIO, co-CEO (Experience Officer), co-CPO (Parenting Officer), best friend and, yes, Head Cheer Leader for all of my endeavors, he set that box around my heart on fire. I didn’t even have to ask.

So, even if it’s legally ill-advised to make out with your IT Department, consider sending them or him or her a thank you note next time some random upgrade that you think has nothing to do with you seems to go off without notable disruption to your day. Or maybe just because most days you can get most of your work done most of the time.

They’ll love you for it, even if they won’t marry you. It’s a hell of a job, and it’s harder than it looks.

Thank you, ITG. You’re the best. Even when it’s complicated.

So, there. Tara Parker-Pope, I’m eating them alright. Well, not all of them.

1. Beets – Although like any normal child I hated beets as a kid,  I taught myself to love them in high-school after reading Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume just on the outside chance that lots of sex, long hot baths and beets were, in fact, the keys to life eternal. If you’ve never read Robbins, this is as good as any to start with. He’s one of my all time faves. Laughter will certainly cure you of any lingering beet loathing you may be harboring.
2. Cabbage – NYT says, “Asian-style slaw”. Survey says…”Ding, ding, ding! Yes!!!” American coleslaw is disgusting. In fact, I think all American picnic foods are gross. American potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw. Blech. Oddly, I never much cared for picnics until I married a South American. Brazilians know how to do both potato salad and beans. Oh, yeah.
3. Swiss chard – About 10 years ago, Ardeo in Cleveland Park introduced me to one of those perfect taste sensations, a diver scallop with swiss chard. It was so mouthwateringly fantastic that we sometimes went more than once a week to eat it. It’s long since gone from the menu, but I now regularly order anything on a menu with swiss chard in futile hope of recapturing that taste.
4. Cinnamon – hello, d’uh, cinnamon Pop-tarts, Cinnabon, cinnamon toast. I love her, but TPhyphenP did not do her research on this one. Americans do eat cinnamon.
5. Pomegranate juice – just add vodka and a splash of soda Antioxidants and relaxation in each little sip.
6. Dried plums – My great grandmother used to talk about prunes and bowel movements in the same sentence, so I haven’t tried this recently. However, I never thought about wrapping them in prosciutto and baking them. Anything wrapped in prosciutto is bound to be delicious, although I have a feeling that it may bring a new meaning to the term hot pocket. Thank you, Jim Gaffigan.
7. Pumpkin seeds – best when mixed with pine nuts. Blessed be Trader Joe’s for creating the holy trinity: salad + pumpkin seeds+ pine nuts = Amen.
8. Sardines – This is where I draw the line. No matter how much I try, I just can’t eat something that looks back at me. Double blech.
9. Turmeric – This one is fairly new to me, outside the occasional brush with hotdog mustard, even though I’ve long been a fan Dr. Andrew Weil. However, my new Indian food kick is sure to up my intake.
10. Frozen blueberries – What’s not to love? Each one is like a tiny purple popsicle.
11. Canned Pumpkin – I had forgotten about this one, yes, until I reread this article. If you can’t quite get yourself to jump right in to pumpkin straight from the can, try plopping a few spoonfuls into some mashed potatoes. Each tablespoon is 260% DV of Vitamin A, and it’s easily hidden by milk and butter. I keep betting on the French Paradox.

So, except for sardines (forget about it) and “dried plums” (mmm, I’ll think about it as long as the prosciutto is along for the ride), I’m not doing too badly. I knew those Cinnamon Pop-tarts weren’t so bad, even if they don’t grow on trees.

Despite disappointment, alliteration animates.

My little drama-queen in residence sprayed herself in the eye with Listerine breath-spray.

Perhaps understandable for a 10 year old.

I wonder how one explains the other  31,299.

"It says to avoid spraying in eyes!" she shrieked.

And yes, it’s funny because, once again, all’s well that ends well.

Don’t tell her I said that.

Hmmmm…

My oldest and unhealthiest habit is a pseudo additction to Coke…-a-cola

I don’t drink it every day, but there are a zillion reasons that I do, it’s a great day; it’s a bad day; I have a headache; I’m tired, etc.

And it’s totally my doorway drug to bad eating behavior: I’m eating pizza, so I have to have a Coke OR I’m having a Coke so I have to have some chips.

I know there’s nothing good about drinking soda, but I really hate to drink water. DC water is terrible, but I’ve never been a water drinker.

Anyway, I’m currently trying to break my habit with Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale. Hey, tea is good for you, right? And supposedly it has 100% of your Vitamin C requirement.

I know that’s total crap, but every day, one day at a time.

What do you expect, it’s not The Real Thing.

PS – I had a Coke at dinner, so Day one starts again in 2 minutes.

It’s interesting when you’re writing a pseudo-yoga and fitness blog. There is always that debate: “Maybe I should practice, workout, or walk first before I start writing, OR write, then pose.”

But once my fingers hit the keyboard, it’s no contest. There’s almost always just one more little thing I could do or look up before I hit the mat or the door…or the floor. Today has been filled with many little things.

One of them was this great post about what to do if you have writers “block”. I can’t say that I’m blocked, if anything I’m struggling with too many ideas and lack of focus, but I did just see this awesome quote on someone’s sig file yesterday:

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.

E. B. White
US author & humorist (1899 – 1985)

I love E.B.White. My favorite was always The Trumpet of the Swan. I love watercress sandwiches to this day. Nothing like butter and cream cheese to make vegetables go down.

But I digress…so although I know yoga is known to help concentration, I thought I’d do a little research on the best pose or poses for con-centration.

Trouble getting going? Try Yoga!

Yoga for “constipation”? Ew. But if you’ve read about me, you’ll know nothing’s funnier or more inspiring. Speaking of which, I got my tickets for BM 2010 yesterday.

.

The feature list sounds very cool. I was particularly excited about being able to set up your own session from 1-36 minutes, and especially enjoying thinking about 1-5 minute sessions because, um, I’m lazy and distractable if you haven’t figured that out yet.

However, I have to admit I paid my $0.99 mostly because I like the look of it. It’s really a beautiful app.

I think they should make a YogaRelax/Bejeweled mashup.

Then I might be more inclined to spend 55 minutes working at it.

Is nirvana the ultimate high score for yoga? I’m sure it takes a few more levels and more than 41,270 points.

I better get my ass up and move it some. So far today I’m working on a very high score for relaxing.