L.Y. Levand's Blog, page 44
September 21, 2012
September 21st, 2012
Happy Hobbit Second Breakfast! Apparently, today is the seventy-fifth anniversary of The Hobbit. Thanks to judicious Facebook likes, I found this, a link to recipes from Middle-Earth. I also found the newest trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
I've been on a Lord of the Rings kick for the past month or so, you see. My best friend even got me a replica of the One Ring for my birthday. (I'm wearing it right now, and no, I'm not invisible.) My fellow fan and cousin is puritanical when it comes to the movies. I, however, think that the movies were amazing, despite how inaccurate they were in places. What do you think?
I've been on a Lord of the Rings kick for the past month or so, you see. My best friend even got me a replica of the One Ring for my birthday. (I'm wearing it right now, and no, I'm not invisible.) My fellow fan and cousin is puritanical when it comes to the movies. I, however, think that the movies were amazing, despite how inaccurate they were in places. What do you think?
September 20, 2012
September 20th, 2012
Kym (my inner child) had a field day last week.
It was between a belt testing and a belt ceremony, so the classes we taught were mostly games. Kym's idea of a game? Setting up an obstacle course used for three and six year olds for an adult class.
Oh, it was fun, too. She even got out the squeaky target and strapped it to a punching bag. It never fails to make Kym giggle when the adults have as much fun with that toy as the kids do. And the expression on Mr. Chief Instructor's face when he saw it? Priceless.
"You got this out for adults?"
"Yup!"
It was between a belt testing and a belt ceremony, so the classes we taught were mostly games. Kym's idea of a game? Setting up an obstacle course used for three and six year olds for an adult class.
Oh, it was fun, too. She even got out the squeaky target and strapped it to a punching bag. It never fails to make Kym giggle when the adults have as much fun with that toy as the kids do. And the expression on Mr. Chief Instructor's face when he saw it? Priceless.
"You got this out for adults?"
"Yup!"
September 19, 2012
September 19th, 2012
Like I said earlier this week, you need motivation to succeed. And a simple goal (like losing ten pounds) isn't always enough. Sometimes, you need another goal. One that's different in nature, such as being able to do twenty pushups without stopping for a rest.
My motivation is, in part, frustration at not being able to do something due to an injury. In May, I injured a muscle in my leg performing in a parade. For the next week, it hurt my leg for me to even bend over. As a martial artist, that effectively crippled me for weeks.
My goal is to be in fighting condition by November. Forget losing weight! If I can kick like I used to, I'll be a happy camper.
Pick your goal - and choose wisely.
My motivation is, in part, frustration at not being able to do something due to an injury. In May, I injured a muscle in my leg performing in a parade. For the next week, it hurt my leg for me to even bend over. As a martial artist, that effectively crippled me for weeks.
My goal is to be in fighting condition by November. Forget losing weight! If I can kick like I used to, I'll be a happy camper.
Pick your goal - and choose wisely.
September 18, 2012
September 18th, 2012
My family has stopped throwing away things like corn husks and orange peels. We toss them in a metal bowl, which then gets dumped into a pit outside.
We're making compost for the garden next year! It's smelly, let me tell you. A bowl full of potato peels and egg shells, apple cores and that batch of moldy green beans nobody ate last week. It looks nasty, too. But my plants will love it next year. I'll have to see if I can talk my brother into handling it for me, though...that stuff's nasty...I can see myself holding it all at arm's length, treating it like a poisonous snake with a bad temperament.
Yes, I'm a bit of a sissy when it comes to rotten stuff. It makes for good entertainment, though! You should hear my family when I make faces after something particularly nasty sends an awful smell up my nose.
We're making compost for the garden next year! It's smelly, let me tell you. A bowl full of potato peels and egg shells, apple cores and that batch of moldy green beans nobody ate last week. It looks nasty, too. But my plants will love it next year. I'll have to see if I can talk my brother into handling it for me, though...that stuff's nasty...I can see myself holding it all at arm's length, treating it like a poisonous snake with a bad temperament.
Yes, I'm a bit of a sissy when it comes to rotten stuff. It makes for good entertainment, though! You should hear my family when I make faces after something particularly nasty sends an awful smell up my nose.
September 17, 2012
September 17th, 2012
Over the past few months, I've experienced what many people call burnout. Or, at least, something very similar.
I didn't want to exercise. I didn't want to work out. I didn't want to eat well. I was tired, and it required too much effort. Sound familiar?
I had no reason good enough to haul my rear up off that couch and do a set of pushups. My health was good enough for me to do the bare minimum to stay healthy, but I didn't exert mself enough. I didn't improve, or gain strength. What I needed was something I wanted enough to force myself into doing things I've always found unpleasant or difficult. What I needed was motivation.
My own health wasn't enough for that. But it was important enough for me to want to find a way to motivate myself.
Eventually I did find a way. But to do it, I had to know what made me tick. Understand your strengths, your weaknesses, and find your motivation. What will make you want it enough for you to get out there and get it done?
I didn't want to exercise. I didn't want to work out. I didn't want to eat well. I was tired, and it required too much effort. Sound familiar?
I had no reason good enough to haul my rear up off that couch and do a set of pushups. My health was good enough for me to do the bare minimum to stay healthy, but I didn't exert mself enough. I didn't improve, or gain strength. What I needed was something I wanted enough to force myself into doing things I've always found unpleasant or difficult. What I needed was motivation.
My own health wasn't enough for that. But it was important enough for me to want to find a way to motivate myself.
Eventually I did find a way. But to do it, I had to know what made me tick. Understand your strengths, your weaknesses, and find your motivation. What will make you want it enough for you to get out there and get it done?
September 16th, 2012
I've started reading the book of Job in my Bible reading every night. Think about what he went through. He lost his children, his riches, even his health. His own wife told him to curse God and die. His friends believed he'd done wrong and should beg God's forgiveness, when in reality he had done nothing.
And still, he refused to blame God for his misery.
How many of us take the opposite road? I've seen people blame God for 'letting this happen,' or 'putting me through this.' But, in the book of Job, who caused it? Satan did. God allowed it because He was proud of His servant Job, and allowed Satan to test him. Because Satan thought that if he hurt Job and took away everything that meant something to him, Job would not be faitful to God. Satan was wrong about Job.
Is he right about us?
And still, he refused to blame God for his misery.
How many of us take the opposite road? I've seen people blame God for 'letting this happen,' or 'putting me through this.' But, in the book of Job, who caused it? Satan did. God allowed it because He was proud of His servant Job, and allowed Satan to test him. Because Satan thought that if he hurt Job and took away everything that meant something to him, Job would not be faitful to God. Satan was wrong about Job.
Is he right about us?
September 15, 2012
September 15th, 2012
"What'cha staring at, Beenie?" Troy asked.
"There was a hedgehog," Beenie said.
"There's lots of hedgehogs here," Troy's mother said.
"But this one had something in it's mouth, and it looked nervous. It hid it behind that tree." She pointed.
"All hedgehogs carry things in their mouths, dear. It's not unusual," Troy's mother said, setting down her menu.
"This one hid something behind the tree," Beenie repeated. "It looked really nervous."
"Don't worry about it, Beenie," Troy's mother said kindly "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"But-"
"Here you go," the chipmunk waitress said with a smile. She set plates made of polished bark and piled high with food in front of them, and bustled off to the next table to take the order of a cheerful-looking finch.
"Don't worry about it, Beenie," Troy's mother said. "Enjoy your food, and then you and Troy can go exploring."
Beenie ate in silence, staring at her plate. Could it really have been nothing, like Troy's mother said?
"There was a hedgehog," Beenie said.
"There's lots of hedgehogs here," Troy's mother said.
"But this one had something in it's mouth, and it looked nervous. It hid it behind that tree." She pointed.
"All hedgehogs carry things in their mouths, dear. It's not unusual," Troy's mother said, setting down her menu.
"This one hid something behind the tree," Beenie repeated. "It looked really nervous."
"Don't worry about it, Beenie," Troy's mother said kindly "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"But-"
"Here you go," the chipmunk waitress said with a smile. She set plates made of polished bark and piled high with food in front of them, and bustled off to the next table to take the order of a cheerful-looking finch.
"Don't worry about it, Beenie," Troy's mother said. "Enjoy your food, and then you and Troy can go exploring."
Beenie ate in silence, staring at her plate. Could it really have been nothing, like Troy's mother said?
September 14, 2012
September 14th, 2012
I hate it when inanimate objects seem to hate your guts.
Like your bed. When it's hot and you can't cool off because your bed is just as warm as you are.
Or the computer, when it won't load a page properly. The first five or six times you try.
Or that thing you dropped four times, or the piece of trash that bounced off the rim of the garbage can.
If these things could talk, I think they'd say something like "Nyah-nyah! I'm going to drive you nuts! Bwahahaha!"
Don't you wish you could just throw them through the window? But, with my luck, I'd miss.
Like your bed. When it's hot and you can't cool off because your bed is just as warm as you are.
Or the computer, when it won't load a page properly. The first five or six times you try.
Or that thing you dropped four times, or the piece of trash that bounced off the rim of the garbage can.
If these things could talk, I think they'd say something like "Nyah-nyah! I'm going to drive you nuts! Bwahahaha!"
Don't you wish you could just throw them through the window? But, with my luck, I'd miss.
September 13, 2012
September 13th, 2012
I have a garden. In that garden there are two cantaloupe vines. On those vines, there are five little melons.
On a recent trip outside, Kym noted the yellowing color of the cantaloupe rinds, and gleefully picked two. She remembered the sweet taste, and was planning on cutting them open as soon as she got inside. But when she set them on the counter, she was informed that they weren't ripe yet.
"They'll ripen inside, won't they?" she asked. "Maybe," came the reply.
So she spent three days, hoping, wishing, she hadn't picked them at such a time as they would never ripen. It was awful. But when she looked back at them, it was with a deep sigh of relief. They had turned orange, and now smelled like cantaloupe should, rather than like something rotten mixed with dirt like they had been before (she'd wrinkled her nose at the time - it was nasty).
She shared the cantaloupe, although she didn't really want to. She had to resist the urge to eat it all herself in one sitting. If she had, she probably would have given herself a lovely stomachache and never heard the end of it! As it was, she plunked that melon in front of her with a spoon, and ate her half of it with sticky juice running down her chin.
On a recent trip outside, Kym noted the yellowing color of the cantaloupe rinds, and gleefully picked two. She remembered the sweet taste, and was planning on cutting them open as soon as she got inside. But when she set them on the counter, she was informed that they weren't ripe yet.
"They'll ripen inside, won't they?" she asked. "Maybe," came the reply.
So she spent three days, hoping, wishing, she hadn't picked them at such a time as they would never ripen. It was awful. But when she looked back at them, it was with a deep sigh of relief. They had turned orange, and now smelled like cantaloupe should, rather than like something rotten mixed with dirt like they had been before (she'd wrinkled her nose at the time - it was nasty).
She shared the cantaloupe, although she didn't really want to. She had to resist the urge to eat it all herself in one sitting. If she had, she probably would have given herself a lovely stomachache and never heard the end of it! As it was, she plunked that melon in front of her with a spoon, and ate her half of it with sticky juice running down her chin.
September 12, 2012
September 12th, 2012
Some of you do work at computers or desks all day. That's not particularly healthy, but if it's your job there's only so much you can do about it.
Something you can do, though, is to do your work in a deep squat, or sitting on an exercise ball. There are also desks you can buy that are made for working at while standing. But if those options aren't available to you, you can also remember to stand up and stretch or jog in place every fifteen minutes, half hour, or hour.
Whichever you choose, remember, sitting still isn't helping make you healthy.
Something you can do, though, is to do your work in a deep squat, or sitting on an exercise ball. There are also desks you can buy that are made for working at while standing. But if those options aren't available to you, you can also remember to stand up and stretch or jog in place every fifteen minutes, half hour, or hour.
Whichever you choose, remember, sitting still isn't helping make you healthy.
