Winter is landing in Minnesota. Frigid mornings and brisk afternoons make it "indoor time." The snow has stayed away thus far. More and more it looks like we'll be having a brown Christmas. It's not romantic, and my children would probably prefer the play material, but it keeps me from having to clear snow!
This past week Jesse and I picked up a new kettlebell exercise routine, which we are working on with our friend Arun. Our prior group effort was to complete 10,000 kettlebell swings in five weeks. Jesse was the only one still swinging all the way to the end. Amazing! I was able to get to 9,000 swings before my back told me to stop.
One of the key features that I like about the latest program is that it self moderates. We do sets of cleans & presses and front squats. Then we break for a moment. If that last set was tiring, we break for a longer moment. If that last set was easy, we break for a shorter moment. It's a great practice of staying aware in real time and choosing next steps based on experiences.
Other than that, I have been wrapping up year-end financial things, watching a repair tech fix up our fridge and range, and playing on the Internet. Shortly it 'tis the season for books, movies, and board games. Productivity is overrated.
Oh, and since last time it turns out a lot of you were able to dig into the memory banks and remember your own childhood muses. I heard stories of volleyball wall hitting, fuzzy guitar playing, and unassisted football tossing. Is it possible to rebuild that imagination muscle? We could all use it about now.
And a BIG THANK YOU to Shawn for the header. It was a wonderful surprise gift. Now I know what those sneaky questions were about last week!
I prefer my tea loose and my clothing looser
The Consumption
Every couple of weeks Todd and I watch a movie together. These days it is online via Teleparty or similar, though in the warmer months we lugged TVs outside to watch at a distance. It has been a great opportunity to watch some of those "homework movies" as Todd likes to call them. After the movie we get together in a video meeting and stay up much too late talking about the movie, the universe, and everything.
When we watch older movies, one of our favorite parts of the experience is seeing actors that we swear must be related to modern actors. Sometimes we come up with the modern name right away and sometimes it takes us the whole move, plus a little Google, to figure it out.
Our most recent movie was The Killing, considered Stanley Kubrick's first true full-length film. (The movie itself was decent. We commented throughout about the similarities to Reservoir Dogs. In a "That's the 1-minute version of this scene" or "That's the TV-movie version of that scene" way. It turns out that it was a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino.) We were also struck by the familiarity of Vince Edwards's face. Who do you think he looks like?
These are both Vince Edwards
Also, that big telescope collapsed.
That Weekly Thing
Every Tuesday I sit down at my computer, open up Paprika*, open up our grocery online order page, and plan out our meals for the next week. I come to this process with a different attitude each week.
* Sorry to any readers who have made competitor meal-planning apps.
Some weeks I feel like this is Good Work. Planning our meals in advance takes some wildness out of our weeks. It allows me to think a bit in advance about keeping things reasonably healthy, freshly made, and efficient. It allows me to cross-reference with our calendar, plan simpler things for busier nights, and plan a few more challenging meals (not that challenging) to keep it interesting.
Other weeks this feels like a chore. I don't want to take the hour or more picking meals, making lists, punching the list into the grocery website, and so on. Perhaps the prior week I had taken on one too many challenging meals and I'm burnt out on the work ahead to get food on the table. I'm not inspired by the meals to be made. Some weeks this feels like a chore, which, in fact, it is!
Over time I've learned to handle both scenarios. As with most everything, moderation is key. It's important to anticipate that the coming week is going to be busy and challenging. It's OK to have the taco packet or mediocre dump-it-in-the-slow-cooker meals. It's just as important to remember that an empty-calendar week is always going to turn out busier than you expect. I've finally realized I should avoid overcommitting in any week. At some point energy will crest and I will hate myself for expecting the roast chicken to turn into a broth to turn into a soup that requires a bread that requires a sourdough rise that requires a sourdough that requires a name because it's a living thing and NOW I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR YET ANOTHER LIVING THING!
If the next week looks tiring, I keep it easy. If the next week looks easy, I keep it a little less easy. Keep it simple, yet interesting. Keep it moderate.
I'm running out of thyme