You’ll be relieved to hear that I got a new computer. After about a week without one, it is a relief to have a real computer to type on. I do have a lovely iPhone, but typing important emails and blogging on it is just a real pain, so I had a lot of catch up to do (and more still, as much of yesterday was spent trying to figure out how to use this newfangled piece of machinery.)

The new computer runs Windows 8. I spent a bit of time yesterday moving things around so that my computer makes sense for my needs—I’m not a huge fan of the initial start screen for Windows 8 as I don’t have a touch screen—I think it seems to be geared towards those who do, and with a regular old timey laptop it just doesn’t make as much sense to me, but hey, I’m old, I know. I finally have everything set up pretty much the way I like it, and I’m starting to learn my way around.

It’s not as easy to copy and paste pictures into Windows Live Writer but I’ll figure it out, I hope. That took way longer than it should have, but I suppose there’s always a learning curve, huh?

It’s a busy weekend ahead: three weddings and six hours of rehearsal for Winter Opera St Louis. We are performing Gounod’s Faust next weekend (Friday night and Sunday afternoon) and tickets are still available. It’s a fun show–

“Based on Goethe’s “Faust”, Mephistopheles promises Faust his every desire on Earth in exchange for his servitude in Hell. What would you sell your soul for? “

I’m not falling for that. I wouldn’t sell my soul for anything. How about you?

Totally unrelated, but it’s November now and that means time to think about Thanksgiving. I found this article on Buzzfeed about “Thanksgivukkah” fun!

It’s raining today. Which is weird because I made grilled cheese and tomato soup last night, which would be perfect rainy day food for today. Is that ironic?

I have a new laptop on order. I’m very excited. I got a great deal on it and it should be an improvement over what I had, not even meaning that the computer will start up, which is an automatic improvement.

I did a short run in the rain. I’m almost smiling!

I’m still doing walk/run intervals but the running is getting longer and with this cooler weather, it doesn’t feel too awful. If I lose some weight it will feel even better and yeah, I’m working on that. I find that eating more vegetables helps.

I had a discussion with a friend yesterday about avoiding things for fear of failure. I could write a long post about fear of failure and how it can hold us back, but I won’t. I will say that generally I don’t worry too much about it, but I know many who do. For me failure is a big part of life, but I generally find that the upside of trying your best trumps any fear of failure. At least career wise, though I’m still riding high on a successful audition…that I really didn’t want to take because I was tired of failing. I’m glad I did. Now I’m trying to incorporate that idea into my diet and exercise routine: tired of feeling like a loser so I just need to get back to it and I know I will succeed.

Typing on my phone is harder. That paragraph didn’t really make cohesive sense but perhaps you get my drift. If not I’m sorry. Perhaps a picture of a cat will help.

I never said it would be a good picture of a cat.

When did winter arrive? Ok I’m being overly dramatic but MAN we went from nice warm weather to cold temperatures really quickly. Luckily my apartment has central heating! Also cold temperatures mean my cat does a bit more snuggling which is an added bonus.

I’m typing this from my phone. My laptop is having some issues and I need to figure out my best course of action. I was sent home from a place today to make sure my files were backed up (evidently I have lots of music though I’m pretty sure that’s all backed up) and was given a few more small tasks to do before returning. I will have to see if the problem is worth repairing or if I’ll be shelling out for a new laptop. This is only a nightmare because I went cable free recently and so all my entertainment is computer based! I started re watching Alias though since I have that on DVD and do have an old TV and DVD player. My life is incredibly hard.

If it weren’t for my fancy smart phone I would be far more upset but I find that I can do most of what I need on it and honestly, being somewhat computer-less for two days has shown me how much time I was wasting. I will need to get something to replace it but I need to consider spending my time more wisely in the future. If nothing else I could be sleeping more!

Then again. I enjoy my internet time. Why take away life’s small pleasures? And I get plenty of sleep anyway.

1. Happy Anniversary to my sister and brother-in-law, Leslie and Peter! Today is their first wedding anniversary, hopefully the first of many, many, more. I’m really looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with them.

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2. I realized at about 12:30 today I hadn’t showered since Saturday morning. I know. Gross. I ran yesterday and then cleaned my house so I didn’t see a need to shower before, and then went right into “How I met your mother watching” followed by “True Blood” and just didn’t bother. This morning I ran again, and realized, wow. If it’s good for your hair to go a few days without shampooing, my hair should look really good right now!

(Oh, and no photos from this morning’s run, but rest assured it happened. I didn’t want to but I did and it felt great. So there.)

3.  I saw this picture on reddit the other day. It’s a photoshop, but still hilarious.

That’s the Cleveland Orchestra—my old teacher is the concertmaster and I can see he’s doing a great job following their yellow leader.

4. I made this recipe for Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken the other night and I don’t think I mentioned it here. It’s delicious and I had it in the oven within about 15-20 minutes, so not too time consuming. I have made it several times before, and I don’t bother with the sauce—I tried it once but it wasn’t worth the effort and the chicken doesn’t need it. I served it with a salad of roasted vegetables loosely based on Natalie’s recipe here and definitely used her dressing. Yum!

5. I did play two weddings over the weekend but I had failed to properly charge my phone the night before (having cord issues—the plug doesn’t want to stay in) so I couldn’t take any pictures. I’m sorry to disappoint you if that’s your favorite part of my blog.

6. I’m finding myself trying to do more meal planning and want to try some soups or a stew or something, as the weather is changing. FASCINATING, right? Any good recipes to suggest for that sort of thing?

So one of the “post-audition” things I wanted to do (other than catch up on life and NOT practice Nutcracker Overture anymore) was to get back to fitness.

Last week I did two runs (well, run/walks, but that is good enough for now!) and a long bike ride. The weather has been wonderful and I’ve been enjoying getting back outside and sweating.

Obviously as a blogger, if I don’t photograph it it didn’t happen.

Post run.

View from the old Chain of Rocks bridge. You can see the St Louis skyline in the distance.

Requisite selfie with crooked bike helmet. Perhaps my head is actually just crooked? Yes, I wear those giant sunglasses for all of my fitness activities.

My bike.

The aforementioned bridge. How beautiful is the sky?

Instagrammed and zoomed in picture of the skyline. If you squint you can see the arch. “Peter, I can see your house from up here!”

This guy. I did not take her on any runs or bike rides. That should probably be remedied.

I’d thought if I went pigeon-toed I could get a thigh gap, but no such luck. I’m devastated.

Happy pre-run!

Lost, sad, and confused, post run.

But that post run haze led me to sign up for a Turkey Day 5k! I’m visiting Leslie over the holiday so we have decided to run the Lifetime Turkey Day 5k in Phoenix.  It’ll give us a little exercise before stuffing our faces, if nothing else.

I thought it would be fun and inspirational to have a medal display rack. I ordered this one the other week and put it up a few nights ago. I kind of love it, and the fact that it says “I run” will hopefully get me out the door more. I mean, really, it should say “I ran”, but I’d like it to be a true statement!

Other plans for this week: getting back to the gym and doing some squats and whatnot. Goal: three runs, one bike ride (which is really just more for fun than anything), and one gym workout.

How’s your fitness?