I am NOT shopping today.  Well, maybe a little online shopping…or at least looking.  Time to start thinking about Christmas presents, but not time to wait in line for stores to open at 4 am!  I’m very thankful I didn’t have to get up this morning and wait in the cold for a store to open so I could possibly get a deal on a super huge tv!! Yes, that is definitely what I’m thankful for today–I really hate crowded stores, so I’m thankful I didn’t have to do that!!

I made my cookies for my upcoming Cookie swap party this morning.  I really wasn’t in the mood to do so, as I was still stuffed from yesterday, but I needed to get them made.  I baked two different kinds–one was from the back of a bag of  peppermint chips from Andes Mints.  They contain coconut, pecans, oats and chips, and are unusual but quite tasty!  I must admit I purchased the chips on an impulse the other week–they just looked tasty.  The other kind are something I made last year–thumbprint cookies with jam.  I enjoyed them last year!  I added a couple things to the recipe this year to make the flavor a bit stronger.  Now I just need to clean and straighten the house and figure out the snacks for the party.  I did not plan very well–this party is making my vacation stressful!

I have a tendency to carry a lot of guilt around.  For instance, today I felt very guilty about all of the eating yesterday, and also at the potluck on Wednesday night.  I also feel guilty for not going to Bikram Yoga again, and I really don’t think I’ll make it back until Tuesday.  (They encourage people to go everyday, so that definitely adds to my guilt, also the fact that I have an unlimited package for these two weeks.  But I just don’t have time!) There’s also the constant nagging guilt that I am not answering phone calls/emails promptly enough and feel constantly behind on things for my school positions.  Gah!

I did get a run in today though–4.5 miles on the treadmill.  I felt MUCH better afterwards.  I also did a few teaching/business things so I feel a bit less guilty about that!  I suppose I’ll just get through the next three weeks and hopefully be able to actually relax about work over the Christmas holidays…the upcoming performances are definitely stressful!  And yoga should be relaxing, not another stresser, right?  Gah!

HBBC:  4.5 mile run: 4.5 points, 7 fruits/veggies(yay!): 1 point, total: 5.5 points

Total for week 1 (nov. 20-26): 40.6 points

I am finally done with work for the day.  Mondays are 11 hour days 🙂

And I’m thankful.  I was driving home today (to teach for over 2 more hours) and I thought, hey, I am lucky to be so in demand and to have work that keeps me so busy.  I know lots of folks are unemployed, so thank goodness I have a job!  (Well, thank goodness I have 18 jobs…).  I am glad I have the opportunities I have right now for teaching, and I know that what I am doing now will only help me in the future, so for that I am thankful!

(and now, Harry Potter time 🙂  I’ll blog more another day…so tired…yet so ready to see this movie!)

HBBC:  No workout today (day of rest) but I made sure to eat 7 servings of fruit/vegetable!  Which I don’t do very often, so I’m pretty proud.  1 point.

Let’s recap again!  Things I am thankful for this month:

1) My cat

2) No more election campaigning

3) Being able to afford to buy food

4) Gorgeous fall weather

5) Processed cheese

6) Good friends

7) My strong legs

8) My pumpkin bread recipe

9) Days off

10) Being able to go on cruises (on occasion)

11) Hummus

12) Comp tickets to the Symphony

13) New clothes

14) Chris

15) My students

16) My hair towel

17) Tivo

18) Family

19) Women

20) Having a wedding free weekend

It’s getting to be a really diverse group of things.  What about today?  Today I am thankful that I live so near a park that I can run in!  I love being able to run in the park and not have to worry about stopping at lights or dodging cars.  It’s a beautiful place to run in and watch other people running, walking their dogs, riding bikes, etc.  I live just five minutes walk from the park, and it’s really wonderful and convenient.  Today I ran approximately 7 miles in the park…whew, my legs are exhausted! 

Today’s workout:  7 mile run, 7 points for the HBBC

I read a few “healthy living blogs” and came across this fun little holiday challenge to stay in shape.  I’m not that concerned as I have enough motivation from Mike and my half marathon training, but I figured, hey, why not?

HBBC Rules
1 Point per mile (run/walk/snowshoe)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 20 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of another form of cardio (i.e. kick boxing, aerobics elliptical)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies

Challenge will run from Nov 20 to Jan 7…this helps to cover you for the major holidays!

Additional points: Because I am all about taking care of your entire mind, body, soul connection there will be additional posts/questions where you can earn points throughout the challenge.

Today’s workout:  1 hour kickboxing video, 4 points!

I usually listen to NPR when I am driving around town.  Today I caught part of “Cityscape,” a local show that covers the arts in St. Louis.  Susan Slaughter, former principal trumpet of the SLSO was on the show talking about some upcoming brass holiday concerts (a yearly event, evidently.)  Susan was principal trumpet of the symphony for over 30 years.  She just recently retired, and is greatly missed.

In any case, she was talking about the challenges women playing brass instruments faced back when she was starting out (late 1960’s/70’s) and how they worked hard to pave the wave for women today.  She told a story about the former principal cellist of the symphony at the time of her audition and how he told her, years later, that he stood up and walked out during her audition, but then heard her play and hung around.  She mentioned that all she and the other women wanted was a chance to play an audition, and IF they were the best, to win.

Listening to the interview made me very emotional!  What a jerk, to walk out of an audition like that.  How is it any better that he came back because she played well?  I’m sure many men played poorly and he didn’t walk out!   I wish people would just put aside their judgemental presuppositions, and instead simply try to treat every person as they would wish to be treated.

In any case, I am certainly thankful of how far women have come.  I would never be turned away from an audition or job interview because of my gender (and string players certainly were, just not quite as recently as brass players).  It’s due to people like Susan Slaughter. I want to say, Thank you!

Here is a link to the interview.   It’s the first segment.

I am so thankful for my Tivo!  I am rarely home or available to watch my favorite shows when they come on…but my tivo records them for me to watch later.  The other best part is that I don’t have to pay attention when a show comes on–my tivo records it anyway.  Tonight it recorded a cool show I watched over the summer, “Human Target.”  I love action/spy shows–Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, Alias, etc.  And my tivo will record them all for me!  (Okay, not Alias, because that ended…but you get the point 😉  ) I never have to worry about forgetting to set the VCR.

(Yes, I’m tired.  But I do love my tivo, seriously! )

(P.S.  Jillian’s 30 day shred level 1 was pretty good–I sweated a lot and my legs/shoulders burned!  I’ll do it again a few times before moving to level 2.  Wish it were longer though…)