Maintainers - May Chat!

[AnneWonders]

So Meg, how is the knee? Or did I just miss it somewhere in one of my great etch-a-sketch brain moments?

Anne

[silverbirch]

Originally Posted by wndranne

I'm starting to have some kind of bad memory problems, which are probably do to chronic sleep deprivation or some new hormonal shift. I elaborated on Cool Runners thread if anyone wants details. I'm hoping it isn't permanent.

Anne, have a big It's not permanent. I get like this and I rationalise it as follows.

1. Sleep deprivation (either not enough, or broken sleep) and me just don't get on. (The Ladies who Lift are probably fed up of hearing about it. )

2. I cannot multi-task and, if I try to, there's trouble. I know that received wisdom is that women can (even that it's hard-wired ) but I think this is so much nonsense. Women multi-task because they have to, or think they have to. Anyway, I make strenuous efforts not to multi-task. I try to finish one thing before starting another. And I don't do everything ... It helps me.

It's tricky with a little one, and all the rest of life, but the wheel will turn. Glad to hear your little darling is so gorgeous!

Robin -

Moses traveled lighter than I do.

Good work, there! It's all in the preparation, isn't it?

[srmb60]

Hello maintainers. We're having a quiet evening, my daughter and me. The fellows have gone for their tuxes. Tomorrow is decorating, rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner and before ya know it ... it'll be the big day.
I'm enjoying the quiet and we're both very calm.
Food's not good and exercise is nonexistant, however ... things are going well.
The boys still have to teach me how to get pictures up here but I will.
Take care and I'll see you all when we blow out the other side of this momentous weekend.

[WaterRat]

Hope it's a great wedding Susan! Enjoy.

[Meg]

Susan - enjoy the weekend and don't sweat the food and exercise. This is a once in a lifetime event! And we insist on pictures!

[4rabbit]

Susan- Enjoy the wedding!!!

[2frustrated]

Just peeping in to say, Susan - ENJOY IT lots!

[srmb60]

Thanks ladies! I should have known that I'd be up and not sleeping in time to read a bit here this morning. I slept well, just not very long.

[Airegrrrl]

Originally Posted by 4rabbit

Robin,

BTW What actually is this 'Commencement" thing that you are talking about ? Is it some ritus at American academia ???

Rabbit, Commencement is a graduation ceremony. Everyone in long black gowns and ridiculous mortarboard caps, lots of “Pomp and Circumstance” and endless speechifying. My university has 8 campuses, so we put on 8 ceremonies.

Originally Posted by silverbirch

2. I cannot multi-task and, if I try to, there's trouble. I know that received wisdom is that women can (even that it's hard-wired ) but I think this is so much nonsense. Women multi-task because they have to, or think they have to. Anyway, I make strenuous efforts not to multi-task. I try to finish one thing before starting another. And I don't do everything ... It helps me.

I think you’re on to something Silver. I multi-task all the time, but I find other ways to “protect” myself and, in the process, have had to build some of that same thick skin that Meg talks about in her anniversary post. I think it’s something we all have to do: carve out our place in the world and our way of doing things. For example, as you know, I’m driving this graduation circuit, while almost everyone else is flying in the university plane. I originally started driving because of weather (plane can’t fly in severe thunderstorms, and this is thunderstorm season). But now I do it for the serenity of being by myself in the car. I decline most invitations to university events because endless “making nice” is exhausting. I think there are times when others think my decisions are odd, but they work for me. Like Silver, I don’t do everything. I don’t even try.

Pat, what’s the name of the bicycle-training book you found? I’d like to give it a look. And Ilene, thanks for the pix of the bike seat. It almost looks comfy. (Oh oh … I’m getting confused; was that here or over on Ladies Who Lift?) See Anne, you’re not the only one with memory problems.

Well, there’s a here that has my name on it. Talk to you all soon!

[Glory87]

*sigh* feeling low. My weight has suddenly and unexpectedly jumped from the usual 127-128 to 132. It's been 2 weeks since my trip to Singapore where I overindulged for about a week. Do you think I could be seeing the result of the Singapore trip? It's ridiculously bad timing, I'm going to Texas to visit my mom for Mother's Day Sat - Tues. I'd really love a chance to get serious with diet/exercise to knock the weight back down. It will be hard in Texas, refusing my momma's cooking is like booing an opera singer

I have been nearly perfectly on track since my return, but I did have 2 cheat meals last week instead of the usual one.

[Meg]

Originally Posted by Glory87

... refusing my momma's cooking is like booing an opera singer

Well, you can't be disappointing Momma now, can you?

My body's weird and has gone up days after an event. I can't wake up the next morning after a cheat and think I've dodged a bullet just because the scale hasn't gone up. I always pay the price even if it takes a few days. Two weeks is a long time to see an effect though ...

Those few pounds could be anything -- your Singapore trip, water retention from extra carbs in the cheat meals, TOM? You can't do much about them now except drink water and stay perfectly on plan until you go to Texas. And then pick up right where you left off when you get back. You're only going to be away for four days, so you can't do too much harm (unless Momma's one heck of a cook! )

Have a fun time!

[WaterRat]

Robin, it may very well have been at LWL, but I'll answer you here. The book is 7-Week Cycling for Fitness by Chris Sidwell, publised by DK. His (her?) advice is to be able to cycle for 30 continuous minutes several times a week before starting. My friend and I are working up to this point, and should be there shortly. Just a matter of adjusting to cycling after indoor cardio all winter.

I decline most invitations to university events because endless “making nice” is exhausting.

This happens to me too. I find when I go to a conference or class, I really need to have down time. I hate it when I'm forced (usually by economics) to share a room. I want to be able to be by myself and veg out with the TV or whatever. I have a friend who does get a room to herself no matter the cost, and I'm leaning that way myself. Life's too short.

[artmaker]

Oh, Robin, your statement about "making nice" rings so true! I was away a few weekends ago with three friends who I love dearly, but as two of them are "talkers" while the other and myself are listeners, I really needed down time. The other listener was smart enough to take a room for herself, but I didn't....however I did tell everyone I needed the mornings to do my own thing...and I did, I worked out, and I swam. Why does it take so long in life for us to learn to do what we need to do to keep our sanity? I think we are conditioned to be "nice", and often that means catering to others at the expense of ourselves.

Art

[paperclippy]

Robin, I love your description of your packed car! I just hope you weren't drinking those beers while you were on the road!

Glory, I would guess that it's water retention from your cheat meals . . . Last weekend for my cheat meal I had pizza, and even though I didn't eat too much of it, the scale jumped four pounds! A couple days of drinking a lot of water and it was back to normal.

Susan, I hope the wedding goes/went well! I'd love to hear about it, especially since I'm about to dive head first into planning my own wedding!

I'm finishing up with my masters degree this week (fingers crossed). It was a hectic week -- right when I had my full draft of my paper ready to give to my advisor, I found a bug in my code and had to redo EVERYTHING! A crazy three days later and it is completed, I just need the ok from my advisor and I am DONE. Three weeks from Monday my fiance and I are loading up a rental truck and heading out to Indianapolis. New apartment, new job, new car (thanks Dad!), new life.

I was talking to my mom the other day and I realized how alike we are (duuuh). After seeing on Oprah a couple weeks ago an episode about how a mother's insecurities are passed on to her daughters I was wondering how much my mom's insecurities about her body affected me as a child, how much I was affected by popular culture, and how much was just me. My mom has started on her own weight loss journey and to be honest I'm finding it difficult to be supportive (I know, I am a terrible person). I just don't feel like she understands healthy eating and exercise and that she needs to keep it up for the rest of her life, not just until she hits her goal weight, and when I try to make suggestions I feel like she ignores them (like I pushed weight training, pointed her to a bunch of resources on it, all for beginners type stuff, which she totally blew off, then called me up a couple months later to say she saw something in a magazine about toning your arms and decided to try it and acted like anything I suggested was too advanced). I know she has to make all these decisions herself, but I don't really know what to say when she calls me up to talk about it. Do I try to give her advice based on my experience? Do I just say "good job, Mom?" What about when she calls me up to complain that she gained a pound? My mom and I have never had the close "friendly" relationship that a lot of moms and daughters have. I thought at first that maybe this would bring us closer, but to be honest it almost feels like a weight loss competition.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. It's just been on my mind lately, especially since once we move my parents will be coming out to visit for a week (I haven't seen them since Christmas) and in the past that has always meant a lot of restaurant meals and I don't really know what we should be doing (like should I plan on cooking healthy stuff, which my dad hates, or not?).

[srmb60]

Tomorrow I must sleep later!
On Monday I'll have to change my ticker and get "crackalackin'".

The clouds are parting!!