7 Quick Takes

Until I was working as often as I am, I didn’t quite get how valuable Quick Takes are! Here’s a brief take on the past couple of weeks:

Fitness: I am this close (holds up two fingers about an inch apart) to belonging to a gym again! I found a fitness center very near the apartment that I plan to move into, and it’s a great place to work out. After going a year without a gym in Camden, it’s nice to have a place to go to blow off some steam.

I made a bit of a mistake on my first day though. I’ve always had a problem with timing my meals well—it’s been an issue since high school. Some days I might skip breakfast and then not eat until 1 or 2pm (hell, sometimes in college I didn’t eat my first meal of the day until 4pm!) I’ve always needed to get better at it, but I figured that as long as I could hang tight, fighting hunger and still being functional, I’d be fine. That may work when you have an office job and spend most of your day sitting down. A workout with a trainer is a whole new matter.

I tell you all of this by way of explaining how I fainted in the gym on Wednesday! Full-on, dizzy head, clammy skin, churning stomach fainted. My trainer was freaked out, and I felt really, really stupid. This mortification may have cured me of my meal-skipping habit.

My new trainer is trying to murder me: Having recently found a gym, I’ve been working with a trainer to target some problem areas in my workouts. (Once you’re a member, this gym gives you three free training sessions per month. It’s a great deal.) My trainer is a great guy, and he’s awesome at what he does.

However, I believe he is hell-bent on committing the longest, most drawn-out homicide in the history of the American legal system. Read: I’m so sore, I think I’m gonna die…

I’m kidding. If I’m this sore, it means that he’s doing his job well. (And that I need to whip my butt into shape!)

Car shopping: Any friend of mine from college knows that I am the queen of bumming rides because I never had my own car. Well, folks, the time has come: I can’t get a long in my daily life now without a car, so I may as well buy one. I’m leaning toward a Honda Fit. (You may puzzle, “Why is she getting a new car?” The answer is, simply, that I may as well. If I buy a used one, I might have to make up the difference in the buying price in repair and maintenance. I don’t want to do that. If I take really good care of this car, I can hang on to it for 10-15 years.) Consumer reports, safety features, and price range all taken into consideration, it’s the smartest car for me. Now I need to go on test drives, figure out insurance, and talk financing. With any luck, I should have it all figured out before the holidays.

Work: Work is going really well. Our parish celebrated our annual picnic last Sunday, and before the festivities we held an all-parish Mass to kick off the theme of this year (it’s Micah 6:8. Beautiful passage.) I’m still on a steep learning curve, but I love the people and am having a great time! We are blessed in this parish to have an awesome pastor, Father Jim, and just yesterday, a priest from Malawi arrived to help take on the duties of the parish, while attending classes at Seattle University.

Having a life: The issue with learning a new job and commuting 40 miles per day (round trip) is that your personal life falls by the wayside. I resolve to remedy that as soon as possible: tonight I’m headed to the Christ the King for their fall festival to hang out with Lilly and Lauren—before heading back here early tomorrow for baptisms, retreats and weddings! I spent last Saturday night with friends, as well, so I’m not too starved socially. I’m just still trying to find a balance.

On that note, anyone out there up for dinner some weekend? I work Wednesday-Sunday, but if you’re up for Sunday dinner or something on a Monday, call or email me!

30 Rock and Glee: I know that one day when I have a husband and children, I will not have the time or emotional energy to get excited about something as insignificant as a television show. I’m relatively new to getting excited about TV—there were no shows that I just had to watch in high school or college, with a few exceptions. But now that I have fewer places to place my energy and attention, I feel OK getting excited about a half hour or hour of comedy once a week. It’s a nice way to stay sane. No wonder so many Americans enjoy it. ;)

Owie: Have I mentioned how sore I am? Sitting at my desk is torture. Slouching? Painful. Sitting up straight? A lot of work for tired muscles. Today I keep weighing whether or not I really need to stand up from my desk, because straitening my hip flexors is so excruciating. (Dear blogosphere, I promise to stop complaining about my workouts soon…)