Hooky

So, I’ve played a bit of blog hooky. Just didn’t post. Too lazy? Maybe. Nothing exciting? Ehh… Perhaps. Too busy? Likely. Did I think about it? Yes. So, Happy New Year, Blogworld, I’m back again!

I took a little time off from the regimen and routine to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. And celebrate I did…  I decided that following the Paleo deal wasn’t going to work with Christmas cookies, Christmas/Thanksgiving/Restaurant dinners, brunches, friends in from out of town, gifts from students and a tidal wave of other excuses for not following a diet free from flour. Then I realized that my clothes were not as comfortable as they had once been, so here I am again. Fortunately I caught myself before my clothes just plain didn’t fit, so I’m improving from the last time that I started sliding into the weight-gain zone! I’ll take any improvements I can get!

I am glad to report that this year Mike and I managed to take some pictures that I am really pretty happy with. Every year he takes me a on Christmas date of some sort. The first year together we went to see The Nutcracker, year two was a pretend trip to Disney World (because it was the first year in a long time that I wasn’t going there for Christmas), year three is totally blanking on me, year four brought a trip to Duluth to see the Bentleyville light display, year five was our dogsledding adventure, and this year was dinner at an awesome, unpretentious Italian restaurant called Scusi followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride around downtown Saint Paul and Rice Park. I am glad that this year we actually remembered to bring our camera and document the evening. I wish there was snow, but in the absence of snow we spent so much more time outside enjoying the lights and watching the skaters on the WinterSkate rink!

Photos… Will be added later. My camera battery died on me just as my upload was finishing, and now I have to start all over again! ACK! That’s what I get for not being diligent in my photo uploading!

Moving On…

I didn’t get to visit Disney World for Christmas and New Year’s Eve this year. I’ve been away for five years. I hope that next year we can pull it together and make it happen, but until then I will share this image from the Disney Store’s blog. Life needs Pixie Dust, right?

Now I am well into the New Year, and as other people are deciding that resolutions aren’t that important anyway, I’m ready to begin. In fact, I’ve already begun in some ways.

So, here goes:

Resolution 1: I felt the healthiest I have ever felt during April-August when I was doing a great job following a mock-Paleo diet and running regularly. It surprised me to feel so good and to enjoy running so much when I wasn’t in training for a race. That’s enough testament to a diet and lifestyle plan that works for me. Therefore I have already begun following this again, and I love it. For some reason being told that I can eat whatever I want from a set group of foods allows me to forget the foods that I’m not eating entirely. Goodbye carb-laden pastas and gassy beans! Hello clementines, beef bites, veggie sticks and a whole lot of other things!

Resolution 2: I am turning 30 in two-and-a-half months. Yikes! So, one week before my St. Patrick’s Day birthday, I will participate in this little ditty:

because I would really like to sport this at work the day before my birthday:

In the past I have challenged myself to do the ten-miler. This year I am not putting myself through that. The roads are usually icy around the lakes and I would rather get faster than go longer, especially because I don’t know anybody dumb enough to sign up to do ten miles with me during the unpredictable Minnesota month of March. So, I must be faster, which means it’s time to set a goal for a finishing time. I will do this 5K in 31 minutes or less. Hold me to it, Blogworld! Also, I will not have a bowling ball shaped face in the photos. Winter is not an excuse to emulate spherical objects.

Resolution 3: I know that the Do-Anywhere Complex and other strength training circuits made a big difference in my success in 2011. I will do a circuit set at least once a day. I wish I could find my measuring tape to do some measurements, because I think this makes a huge difference for my body.

Resolution 4: The Housekeeping Journal. More on this later, but I already love having it and using it! I feel so pulled-together!

Resolution 5: Get Sentimental! It’s time to share my sentiments with people. I am going to do what I can to spread caring actions, gratitude, kindness, faith, friendship and happiness. I hope to do this on my blog, at my jobs, with people I’m close to and with people I need to get to know better. I just want to do what I can to make this little corner of the world better, stronger, and happier. Please allow me to cheer for and care for you!

I’m glad that I had the time to get caught up here today, and I look forward to checking in more often. I finally have Live Writer on the desktop computer, which is much easier to use. I also have the Blogger app installed on my iPod for quick resolution updates. Hoping to add more quick workout updates, book reviews, and more as time allows from my desk, couch, Life Time, or wherever I happen to be. Looking forward to connect with more of the bloggers who have come to be my sources of inspiration and laughter first thing in the morning as I make my blog a bigger part of my life.

If you’ve stumbled upon this and hung in here this far, thanks for reading! Check back later to see photos of our Christmas date, a few other 2011 flashbacks, our Christmas tree, book reviews, possible recipes and other updates.

Leave me a note so I can stop by and see what you’re up to, also. Maybe answer this question: What are you doing differently in this New Year?