Martha's So-Called Life

doing our best

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit tired of all the "best of" and New Year's resolutions posts I've seen floating around out there. I'm not really into all that.  

Most people who make resolutions don't actually keep them or accomplish them anyway.  Here is an interesting article on failed resolutions. 

While the new year is a time for reflection and planning for many, I have come to see it as just another day.  Sometimes it seems like a harsh reminder that life is short.  365 days often fly by at breakneck speeds leaving me in a state of disbelief and feeling like I just don't have enough time.

I don't believe that one should wait to make a change or start something new.  Just do it, just start.  There's no reason to put it off until next week or next month if you have the tools and knowledge now.  This applies to everything from exercise to starting a business to changing jobs.  Just go out and get it done.  

I'm not going to make claims I cannot keep for the upcoming year, nor am I going to dwell on the things I didn't get done this past year.  If you think about it, we are all just doing the best we can with what we have.  Some of us have more and some of us have less.  Sometimes those with less are doing a better job than those with more.  But that doesn't really matter.  All any of us can do is do our best and try our hardest. 

So, rather than wasting the next 365 days trying to stick with the unreasonable expectations you have set forth for yourself, do the best you can and enjoy your time here, becasue before you know it, it will be over. 

I think Ferris Bueller said it best, "life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  

this week in exercise...

Monday:
Work/rest

Tuesday:
Work/rest

Wednesday:
Rest

This photo pretty much says it all.  

Unplanned rest day due to the fact that it was quite cold...and we had three different family events to attend. 

Thursday:
3.8 mi skate ski, 48:00

Still chilly, but at least it made it several degrees above zero!

Friday:
3.75 mi, 51:58 (13:52 pace)

I ended up driving part way up Arctic Valley Road because it was much warmer up there (my run started out at 12°F instead of 4°F).  Because of the fact that the road goes up a mountain...it was slow going.

Kiva had fun keeping an eye out for wild animals, and scaling the snow berms on the side of the road.

Saturday:

4 mi, 50:35 (12:36 pace)

 

Snow + woods + dark + running = perfection

 

It was a bit of a slow slog over the part of the bike path that is groomed for skiing, but once I hit the part that gets plowed it was a little better.  My legs were tired and sore from my run up AV Road on Friday...not breaking any speed records here!

 

Week Total: 11.56 miles

2013 Total: 605.4 miles

always playing catch up + a video + photos

Holy busy batman!

Between getting my butt kicked at work and only having one or two days off at a time, plus desperately wanting to play outside in the snow...I have had little time for frivolous things such as blogging :)

Here's a video I made of my ski yesterday afternoon.  Don't watch it in fullscreen, it will make you ill.  

And here is what I've been doing for the last few weeks as told by my iPhone photos...

Next up...working on packing for Africa! Less than two weeks until we leave!

 

 

what we're eating for the next three days...

I've been stuck in a food rut.  It's a combination of being busy, lazy, and undecided about what kind of food I actually want to eat (meat or no meat, grains or no grains, sugar, etc.). 

So here's what's on the menu for the next few days.

Tuesday:
Quiche (a make it up as I go kind of recipe)

Wednesday:
Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad

Thursday:
Hungarian Goulash

After Thursday...who knows!  Good thing we have a freezer full of fish so we know we won't starve!

a time lapse

I'm here.  I've just lost my blogging mojo I guess.  It didn't help that when we got home from Hawaii the weather sucked.  I spent several weeks being angry about it being winter and being stuck inside...or outside with ice crusted snow and rain.  Ick. 

Anyway, it's since snowed...and I bought a new toy.  I'm now the proud owner of a GoPro, a dog harness to mount it on, and several other accessories to play with.  

I haven't taken it outside, but I did create a time lapse video of me cooking dinner this evening. Pardon the messy kitchen, weird angle, and note that the dark shadow below the counter is most likely Kiva wanting to be included (or eat the sausage).  

  Yes, I used real music in it.  Let's not get in an agrument about the law right now.  But here's the link to the band, The Naked and Famous, on iTunes.