This, That, and The Other Thing

It's seriously 18 minutes till bedtime, but I'm going to try my hardest to smash out a quick post, because it's about time!

Let's see: the weather has been more sunny and warm as of late, so we have been doing some very very very very long overdue yard work. I'm honestly surprised that our landlord didn't slap us with a hefty fine, because our lawn needed mowing a month ago. It got done late last week.

I did a little weeding on Sunday, which my already-not-awesome shoulders didn't appreciate, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like weeding. It's like cleaning, but outside. And I ended up letting my mind wander into some pretty deep thoughts, along the lines of how weeds are an analogy of my spiritual state (and not in the obvious way).

Anyway, the weeds are gone, which makes me happy, but the empty patch of dirt almost looks worse. And no, I'm not going to plant anything, mostly because I don't trust the children and pets that live right around here. We have enough trouble with cats as it is. And since we won't be staying beyond July of this year, I can't bear the thought of some college kids moving in here and letting my pretty flowers die. So I'll just keep weeding.

Speaking of my sore shoulders, my workouts at the gym are going to look a lot different for at least the next four weeks. Apparently many people at the gym are experiencing shoulder issues, so our head coach came up with a plan to help our shoulders recover, so that we can a) avoid injury, and b) eventually get stronger. Because if you are trying to push or pull weight around on weak/sore shoulders, your not going to see any improvements. You're just going to make things worse.

To clarify, I am not injured. I am trying to avoid injury. So I'm barely going to be even lifting my arms above my head for the next month or so. I CAN, but Coach wants us to get into the habit of "shoulders back and down". And I want the soreness and tightness to go away. In the meantime, my core and legs are going to be getting a lot stronger, because I'll be replacing any shoulder work with something core-intensive or leg-intensive.

Changing the subject: I'm doing training again at work. 3 new people started yesterday, and they are the last to be hired for our department for the busy season. I really like them, and they are catching on quickly, which makes my job a whole lot easier. We are having company-wide issues with new people logging into their computers, so that kind of sucks, but we're making due. I just have them take turns sitting at my computer, and they do the work/watch each other do the work, and I supervise and coach them along. This works quite well, but eventually they need to be at their own desks, or else I won't get any of my own work done! So I'm praying that the issues get figured out quickly.

Finally, the markets opened up a couple of weeks ago, and I'm LOVING it. There's a public market that's open every Saturday morning, and there are all sorts of local vendors, selling food and produce and clothing and pottery and lots of other stuff. We saw a booth featuring bison jerky and bison sausages, so we bought a big fat sausage, and Art cooked it for dinner on Sunday. It was delicious! I love bison.

We also bought homemade Chai from one of Art's friends. He hasn't even opened it yet, and it's just sitting on our counter, but every once in a while I get a whiff of it, and I'm in heaven. I'm thinking of buying a smaller one to put in the guest bedroom. It makes a wonderful air freshener.

Also, there's a market-type "store" not far from our house that sells fresh produce from March till November. We loaded up on all sorts of vegetables, and we only paid $20! Squash and yams and broccoli and cauliflower and apples and oranges and avocados and asparagus, and a coconut. For little more than $20. And yeah, a coconut. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it, but I'm just excited that we have one.

I think it's so funny and amazing that I get excited about fresh vegetables now. I used to hate vegetables! But no longer. Now I think of all the new ones I want to try, and I think of fun recipes so I can make them taste delicious. Eating real food is so much more interesting than most people realize.

Also, kale chips are delicious.

Okay, it's past my bedtime, and I need my sleep (because great fitness required even greater recovery). So you all have a good rest of the week, and you should also try spaghetti squash. It's delicious and versatile. C'mon. Just try it. I dare you.