It's times like these that I like to escape into fiction

There's no escaping the unrest in the world of late.

The riots in Baltimore.

The earthquakes in Nepal.

The earthquake was devastating.  And awful.  Of course some Christians have always taken this opportunity to recruit.

The situation in Baltimore is far more unsettling.  Why?  Because this was man made.  And awful.

But before I get into that, let me mention this.

I really hate violence.  Now yes, I threaten violence all the time.  But seriously, me threatening violence is like a snowball threatening fire.  Pointless.  (Picture a T-Rex punching someone.  Done laughing?  Yeah, that's me)  But on the whole I really don't like violence.  I really don't like violent movies or TV shows.

But I love comic book superhero movies.

from www.showbiz411.com

Are they violent?  Of course.

But there is something else.  The violence makes sense there.  There are good guys and bad guys.  The fighting is necessary for the bad guys to get their punishment and to save humanity.

from fictspedia.wikia.com

In the movie world things are clear cut.  The Avengers and Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen are good.  Death Eaters, Hydra and President Snow are bad.

Even with Daredevil (and MUCH darker Marvel property), there is a clearer line between good and evil.

In reality there really isn't a distinction between good and evil.  While there has been some startling police brutality, I know that not every cop is bad.  And while peaceful protest may have disintegrated into riots, I'm sure that a few rioters were there for an excuse to riot and loot.  This isn't District 13 vs. President Snow.  This is something with no clear right answer.  It makes me sick to think that the police is beating African American citizen just because they can.  Just because they have the power.  It also breaks me heart to see the rioting and violence from the other side.  (I read an article about how white bystanders were verbally harassing peaceful protest marchers.... but of course I can't find it to link it)

I know that the police brutality toward the African American population is frightening.  I'm also not a fan of rioting as a way of getting your point across.  But being a 40 year old not poor white woman I don't have much of a leg to stand on in any of my opinions.

I hate to admit it, but in the wake of violence that seems to never end, violence that I personally can't make sense of I just want to curl up into a ball and cry.  I remember feeling this way during the first Iraq war.  I remember feeling this way when I was young.

I don't know what I can do to fix anything.  Honestly, I don't think there is anything that I can do.

So Instead, I'm going to watch the Avengers.  I know that Hulk will smash,  Captain America will be a good citizen, and that Tony Stark will be a billionaire, playboy philanthropist.  I know that they will fight against evil.  And I know that evil will be pretty darn evil.  No shades of gray.

Thank you Rachel Morgan and Kim Harrison

Last night before bed, I listened to the end of the last Rachel Morgan book.

Listened?

Yes.  Listened.  I got into the audiobook thing a while ago.  After working all day, looking at print was the last thing I wanted to do.  Then I found Audible.  I could listen to books while I drove, while making dinner, during walks.  

I just spent the last few months with Rachel Morgan, Jenks, Ivy and the gang.  And as weird as it seems, I'm going to miss them.

From Dead Witch Walking

from www.kimharrison.net

 To The Witch with No Name

from Good Reads

13 books.  13 books of Rachel being unlucky (then VERY lucky) in love.  13 books of Jenks swearing (pixie swearing is very interesting).  13 books of learning about this world where the normal and the supernatural mix into one interesting mess.

And then it was over.

And honestly, it leaves me sad.

I loved this world.  Even back when I first read Dead Witch Walking years ago, I wished I could live than that world.

I turned off my speakers at 11 last night and felt satisfied with the ending.

And sad that I couldn't play in her world anymore.  There was talk of a series, but that wasn't to be.  Thank you Kim Harrison for you books.  And thank you Marguerite Gavin for your narration.

Should you read these books?

Yes!

They are like the Anita Blake books, but with a lot less porn.  (unless you're into that.... then these books won't have enough sex)

Now it's Saturday, and I'm at a loss as to which book to listen to next.

The Women of the Otherworld series, by Kelley Armstrong?  Or maybe a stand alone novel?

I might be getting a little too much help.

This morning I actually went out running.  It was me and the dog.  Yes, the dog was all "on your left" as she tried to get home before me.  Sadly, she was on a leash and couldn't.

I got myself going extra early because I had an 8:30am meeting.  What for, might you ask?

Work was having a health thing, called the Be Your Best initiative.  We had Bioimpedance Analysis done and the meeting was to talk about how to interpenetrate the numbers.  (My numbers?  I think I should be an 85 year old woman.)  There are two more sessions of this series.  One on stress and one on eating right.

I left feeling weird about the whole thing.  Clean eating was paraded around.  She talked about how we all need to poop more (I'm not making this up!) and what consistence the poop needed to be.  They said that most of their patients are gluten free, then backed up and said that not everyone needs to be, but for most people need to be.

I thought a lot about it on the way back to my office.  This is actually going to be the third eating plan that I'm getting.  I'm already doing Weight Watchers and the meal from from 21 Day Fix.

The problem is, which one should I use?

Should I try to reconcile all of these plans?

Should I chuck it all?

Should I follow one?

Will I have to give up cake?  (spoiler alert, probably)

Or maybe I should stop stressing out out this and just try to follow the plans (they intersect a lot) as best I can.

And not beat myself up about the odd piece of cake.

And try not to do this:

What a week...

I've been off my game all week long!

Hormoneally things have been rough.  I'm about to burst into tears for no reason what so ever.  Shark Week is at the sate of any minute now.... thankfully!


I haven't
run in ages, but I did manage to sign up for a race in 2 weeks.  This will be me:

Except I'm all the Falcon, and every other runner is Captain America.

There is this new healthy initiative thing at work, so I had testing.  I had to prep for it twice, actually.

No coffee, no food, no exercise.  I don't know what happened, but after no exercise, I was all:

 and

I don't know what happened, but I seriously went off the rails.  Like pizza and chocolate chip cookies off the rails.
(I'm also way into GIFs today, apparently)

I've already decided that I need to make better choices.  I seriously need to exercise this weekend.  I need to meal plan, and meal prep on Sunday.

I have plans for running on Sunday.

I also need to go out and to do something fun.


But I all I want do is this:

21 Days Later

It's over folks!  I have spent 21 days doing the 21 Day Fix.  I haven't measured yet, but I know I've only lost 2 pounds.

But I'm calling it a success.

Why?

I wanted a kick in the pants.  And that's what I got.  I actually really liked the container eating system (I actually plan to incorporate that into Weight Watchers and keep it up).

How will I go on from here?

Well, I'm doing another challenge group.  This time I'm going to train the way I need to train.  Since the snow is melted, I can get out and run.  This month I'm swapping out some of the cardio with running.  I also bought anothe rprogram (since I wanted more cardio in general.)  TurboFire.

It should arrive today, so I'm excited to get a look at that.

I don't know my fearless group leader will agree, bit I do know that I need to do what works for me.  I know I can't spend all month on one program.  I get bored.  I need to run some days.  Do cardio other days.  Strength training other days.

But I do know is that I need to step up my effort a bit.  I'll get out of this what I put in.  And I'm training with the Disney goal in mind!

Stuck in a ditch

Last night, I went to a party.

parking in the street is kind of tight, so I decided to park down the street, near the corner.

Great plan, Right?

Except the water I parked near hid a large ditch, and I was stuck.  No, seriously stuck.

Some WONDERFUL gentlemen tried to get me out, but that didn't work.  So I called the atuo club.

90 minutes for the tow truck.  I had to wait by the car.

I waited. 

And waited.

And waited.

Then I got a call.  Was I satisfied with my service that was JUST COMPLETED?  I promptly freaked out and pressed 2 to tell them that the service wasn't completed.  They were waiting for a cop car, and I was told to go inside.  A few minutes later they called again.

The answer left me hysterically laughing.

The tow truck broke down and needed a tow.  Seriously?  I got put on hold again.  Someone would be out there in an hour.   I gave it 20 minutes and went back out.  The tow truck was pulling away.  I almost cried, but I called and they turned him around.  They eventually got me out and on my way home.  No party for me.

I know I sprayed mud everywhere/  In speeds above 60 the steering wheel vibrated.

I just took the car in for an alignment, and was told that it probably wasn't the alignment.... Let's pray that the axle isn't bent or something likewise as expensive.  (I believe bent rim and wheel weight being off were also possibilities.  the bent axle was my addition)

I still feel all jittery, like last night's panic hasn't warn off.  The car is dropped off and Firestone is busy, so it's a day inside for me.  Sadly, my car troubles made it impossible for the Spousal Equivalent to work.

Now we wait for a diagnosis.  I'm back in my jammies and having a cup of decaf.

Wish me luck.  I need some better luck!

ETA:
The car has been aligned, and thanks to the new AutoBell, it's REALLY clean.  (there was standing water INSIDE the car....)

The 21 Day Fix... so far

I'm almost at the halfway point of the 21 Day Fix (But not at the halfway point of my Challenge group, yet).  So I have some thoughts.  (No one gave me any promotional material.  I paid for this out of my tax return!)

1.) The eating plan:

I've been doing the Weight Watchers thing.... and this is more of the same.

Honestly I went into this thinking that I'd give this the whole college try.  While I know that I'm not following it perfectly (The need to doctor these Shakeology shakes so they are drinkable sometimes puts me over my count)

I do know that the Shakeology is VERY expensive, so it's not going to be a regular part of my diet after this.

But all of the portioning is something that I've DESPERATELY needed to get back to.

Figuring out your calories takes math.  I'm in the 1500 range.

2.) The Work outs
There is actually a method to the timing of the workouts.

(FYI: Dirty 30 is SO HARD!  And I'm finding that I'm not a fan of Yoga.)

I do enjoy the workouts.  I LOVE that there is modification.  And I tend to (for the moment) work somewhere between the modifications and the real moves.  The workouts are challenging, but not so hard that you want to give up.  Next week will be the big challenge, with the 2 workouts a day.  I need to find time to add running into this mix as well.  I'll do that after the 21 days are over.

All in all, I'm liking what I'm doing.  Would I recommend it?  Yes.  Is it expensive?  Absolutely.

Is it worth it?  For me it has been.