I see a lot of “spring cleaning” posts out there in the blog world. I’d like to add my own two cents.

As a woman who has trouble maintaining her weight, I have made some mistakes in the past by listening to people who say “give away clothes that don’t fit.” I think that’s a huge mistake, and I don’t intend to make it again.

1. DO give away clothes that you hate or don’t wear even when they do fit.

2. If clothes are too big but you still like them, take them OUT of your closet or drawers, and put them in a storage bin.

3. If clothes are too small but you still like them, again, take them OUT of your closet or drawers (Or if you have extra closet or drawer space, and this goes for #2 as well, put them in a rarely used area.)

That way, when you gain or lose weight, as many of us will invariably do so, you will still have clothes you like that fit! And if you gain or lose weight, and determine that you no longer like those clothes, well, give them away then. Trying to fit into a pair of smaller pants won’t encourage you to lose weight any more than keeping bigger pants around will encourage you to gain weight.  But if you have a variety of sizes on hand then you don’t have the added insult of having to waste money on new clothes while thinking of all the perfectly good jeans (for instance) you used to own that fit and looked good at that higher (or lower) weight!

All that being said, purging your closet can be great, and we all have clothes in there that we won’t wear EVER, and you should definitely give those away. But don’t make the same mistake I did of giving away perfectly good clothes that would have fit again in the future. Clothes really don’t take up that much space. Just put them away somewhere, and if you change sizes, go through them then and figure out if something fits that didn’t before.

And buy more shoes. Shoes always fit.

(Have you entered my giveaway for a free 5k/10k entry for a race in June?)

Isn’t tax day the greatest? I finished mine yesterday, and, for a self employed musician who had to file “married, filing separately” trust me when I say it wasn’t a happy day. Such is life. But that’s behind us now (well, my bank account is still crying…) and this small business owner who can now have awesome affordable health insurance is looking to a brighter future!

I think I went over the hump of “busiest time of the spring” and am looking forward to a little more breathing room. I won’t really have any until mid-June but it’s nice to have a few crazy busy days behind me.

Even though I mostly worked over the weekend, I did manage to get outside and enjoy some of the nice weather!

Saturday I did some judging for the Music Federation. I got to hear a lot of great performances by some young children, and felt more inspired for my own teaching!

I got nervous when I saw the alto sax and brass listed, but it turned out that another judge took over my room for those kids.

Then I played a concert on Sunday that was actually quite a lot of fun. Mozart Requiem is always enjoyable and intense…it’s the very last thing that Mozart wrote and just amazing to think about his short life and what he accomplished in it. I haven’t done nearly as much…

Students, note this is how you play at the tip of the bow. See how I am not over the fingerboard? Also, watch the conductor. You just never know what is going to happen. It’s also important to try to get as many lines in your forehead as possible.

One thing I’m dreading is the upcoming hearing for my divorce, but I’m also looking forward to having it be DONE. This process has been long and challenging, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Things that are awesome: omelets with a little parmesan cheese in them. Way better than non-parmesan cheese omelets (which I ate for many many days of whole30).

I got quick cooking steel cut oats at Trader Joe’s today. I love steel cut oats but they take forever to cook, and frankly, they aren’t nearly as good reheated. I eat leftovers a fair amount for sure, but I don’t really want leftovers for breakfast (this made all the whole 30 breakfasts especially annoying).

Thanks for your comments on my last post (some on facebook.) I definitely agree with one who said that for her, not thinking about food and just eating when she’s hungry is the best bet, and just aim for qualities in her meals like balance, variety (lots of colors!) gratitude and moderation. I would love to be able to do that, and I do think that is my ultimate goal. It’s hard when your weight has always gone up or down to really figure out how much you ACTUALLY need to eat to maintain. And since I’m trying to lose right now, I’m not any closer to being able to do that. HA.

I do figure that continuing to work out regularly will help me out. And I really do enjoy lifting weights, and I really do enjoy walking and biking, and occasionally running (had a great run earlier this week) and always the feeling AFTER finishing a run.

My friend April shared a great link about running today. You might have seen it, but anyway: 75 Thoughts Every Runner Has While Out for a Run.  Number 7 and 43 are my favorites.

Well we are definitely at that part. Tornado sirens woke most of the city up this morning before 6 am and there is another storm coming through right now. April is the cruelest month, so I hear.

That didn’t stop me from hitting the gym this morning to wail on my pecs (or something like that!) and now I’ve got some work to do on my band music (in case you forgot, I’ve joined a band—I’m the violinist for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Cover Band) for practice this Sunday. Bands practice, orchestras rehearse? And then teaching. I feel like this week has flown by…is that a sign of being busy or old?

That’s me, transcribing something I need to learn. I can learn by ear, I suppose, but it’s way easier once I see it written down. I’d been putting it off, but honestly it only took about 20 minutes to write that down. It’s amazing what you can do when you just sit down and do it!

People have been asking me my thoughts on Whole 30 after I finished. I have so many thoughts, but it’s hard to figure out what are real thoughts and what are reactions to being “able” to eat whatever I want again. Today I have had oatmeal with pb, yogurt, and bananas for breakfast, followed by a post gym meal of eggs, bacon, and a mix of purple cabbage/beet greens. It was delicious and totally hit the spot (both meals.) I’m definitely trying to stick with “healthy” eating, but eating Whole 30 for a month has made me question what that means…really I just want to eat without giving it that much thought, feel good about what I eat, and not spend too much money. That seems easy enough, right?

Tuesday night was a lot of fun. I met up with a friend from out of town at Mission Taco. I’d been there once before and had tacos, so this time I tried a burrito. It was delicious! I couldn’t believe there was a 30 minute wait for a table on a Tuesday night, but I guess that’s the price of trying a “trendy” restaurant. Fresh margs and mexican food…worth a 30 minute wait indeed. Whole 30? Not at all. Delicious and something my brain needed? Absolutely.

Though I’ve gotten pretty used to black coffee. Some people say, if you can’t drink your coffee black, maybe you don’t really like coffee. I say, I can drink coffee any way it’s served. Black is good, cream and sugar is good, coconut flavored coffee (this pictured cup) is good too.

Enough random thoughts. Hitting publish and off to work/practice!

Apparently I only blog on Mondays…

I have a really good excuse this time. My sister Leslie was visiting and we were busy doing all kinds of fun stuff (and working, well I was working…but we got to spend a good amount of time together having fun!)

We made it to the Art Museum, (this was something she hadn’t seen!) and even got free tickets to the special exhibition (free on Fridays, though you have to get a timed ticket). We got lucky and only had a 25 minute wait so that gave us time to look at some other art.

Leslie was attempting to show the proper form for looking at art but she realized afterwards that she was supposed to have her arms crossed BEHIND her as to not risk touching the art or getting too close. FAIL.

Found this cake in the Central West End near Pi Pizza where we had dinner. It’s good to not be on the Whole 30 anymore and to be able to eat what I like. I’ll give more thoughts on that in a new blog post. Today is just about Cakes.

Shaw Nature Reserve. It was a cold morning for walking around, but we wanted to get out and about. I’m not sure what was wrong with my face in this picture, but I am sharing the picture anyway. I want to go back to the Reserve after spring is truly here: it was cold and dreary and not a whole lot of stuff to look at because it’s still basically winter here, but the fresh air was still good.

By this time our heart wasn’t in it anymore. But it was nice to have a day to wander around the Hill and enjoy some gelato outside after having been bundled up the previous day.

Just so you know.

Things I haven’t been doing lately: running. This bodes well for my weekend half marathon. I’ll mainly be walking. It was meant to be something I trained for, but life…in any case, the weather is finally warming up. There are two options: 1) I don’t actually really like running but only the idea of it or 2) I just don’t like running in the cold or on the treadmill. You pick. Either way, I’m going to have fun, enjoy the three hours it will take me (if we are lucky) and appreciate what I’ve done and been through since this time last year. If I’d known how lazy I would get, I wouldn’t have registered (got a great price registering early of course, so that’s good), but I did, and I’m doing it anyway. And I DO want to get back into running: I enjoyed being a runner for awhile, and it made me feel good, and I want that again. Between the Whole 30 diet and the cold and dealing with a bunch of personal issues training just wasn’t a priority this time around. I’m okay with that, or at least trying to be.

I feel pretty good about what my priorities have been lately though. I’ve been working hard, eating great food, hanging out with friends and family, getting to the gym, and getting some great long walks in, so life is going in the right direction.

And sleep petting the cat, evidently…

Spring is a busy time here in real life—before I know it another week has gone by!

Things I’ve done:

Seen the movie 12 Years a Slave (highly recommend!)

Watched Gil Shaham perform with the SLSO

Went to Jazz at the Bistro

Made a ton of meals involving meat, veggies, and not much else (Whole 30 day 29, baby! So close but yet so far…I’ve lost weight for sure, but I’m tired of being hungry and low energy all the time.)

Performed with my quartet at a Retirement Community called Friendship Village

Played a wedding and cocktail hour

Taught some students (just some, as others were on spring break)

Listened to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra music I need to memorize about a million times

Felt sorry for myself (oh that one isn’t a good thing, but it’s been happening…the good thing is that I’m realizing that a lot of things that I blamed myself for weren’t really my fault—and that I deserve nice things to happen to me—someday I’m going to write a post about this, but not right now…for now, it’s just the constant ups and downs, and knowing that things WILL get better, have gotten better, and that in the future I’m not going to be making the same mistakes.)

Worked out—getting stronger!

Took some long walks

Cleaned

Got lots of cake pictures!

How’s your Monday going? I’m still trying to recover from this stupid cold…I keep feeling like I’ve kicked it and then I feel lousy. *sigh*