7 Quick Takes--#9

Number 9: I swear, I'll write a REAL post someday instead of 'just' Quick Takes...

1. I GOT MY SIX!!!!!! (Ahem, as many of you already know who follow me on Twitter. Sorry if you've already heard the news.)

Anyway, yes, I have a six in the middle of my weight. Eh, this is the internet, most of you are nice people. I'll just say my weight instead of alluding to it, lest you all think I'm some 800 pound woman. I weighed in at 269 this week. Since August, when I first started at this gym, I've lost almost 20 pounds. Slow and steady is supposed to be the best way to achieve long term weight loss, but it's tough when *I* am the Rabbit, while my usually-the-Turtle husband has dropped 50 pounds since the summer. MEN!!!! Chris had the health scare, not me, so while I'd like his success, I don't want a serious liver condition. And yes...sigh...we all know that men close their eyes to beer and dessert and drop ten pounds in a week...



2. Yes, I'm still running. Earlier in the week, I ran for six minutes without stopping, and yesterday, I was able to run for eight minutes continuously. I'm gaining endurance! I tried listening to a book yesterday while running, instead of music or TV. It helped. And strength--I can also now do these crazy pull ups whereas before, I'd just hang from the bar and have a nervous laugh. Getting stronger, thank God!

Speaking of God, this morning, when I was on the crazy pull up machine (no, really), I was having a hard time at the very end, which is common. I started saying a Hail Mary in my head, and was able to finish my set. Was our Blessed Mother interceding? Did I just have my mind focused elsewhere instead of the pain? Who knows, who cares. It worked!

3. Chris has his follow up appointment this coming Tuesday morning. Please pray! Thank you :)

4. Tomorrow is the 2 month anniversary of my "separation" from work. This week, I've applied for four jobs. It's weird, how I'm finding more recently, than I did when I was first out of work. That brings the grand total to five, ha.

5. Have you ever tried to make a Wikipedia page? It's hard. My former coworker did it at my old job, and said it was challenging, but I didn't realize HOW challenging it would be! I foolishly told one of my freelancing clients that I could make him one, no problem. Well, it was easy to WRITE the article. Now I have to format it in their weird language. I can code in HTML with very few problems; I wish the wiki-language was more like HTML. I really should be working on that now.



6. I mentioned a book that I was listening to in #2. It's Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson. I might write a review of it in a future (real) post, but I'm really enjoying it. I'll be a little bummed when I finish it today or tomorrow. You might know Marcus from Food Network or Top Chef. I'd seen him on TV and "knew of" him, but not very much. His story is amazing, from orphaned in Ethiopia, to cooking for the infamous White House State Dinner that was crashed by "that couple." And he narrates! Author-read books can be tricky, but in this case, it's a good thing. Plus, he's funny.

7. Many of my blogging friends have gone silent today in honor of Roe vs. Wade's 40th anniversary. Others have dedicated entire posts to the topic. While I am pro-life, it is still difficult for me to wrap my mind around outlawing abortion, mostly for reasons like "how dare I tell someone else what to do?" You might remember abortion might have prevented my husband from being born (not him, directly, but his mother). Also, as a woman who might bear the cross of infertility, adoption is a wonderful way to build a family. Over the past few days, I've read some posts about what needs to happen regarding the law. I don't want to debate people, but I will say a few things.

If you want to stop abortion AND, at the SAME time, encourage women to have babies, we need to be more supportive of said women and their reproductive systems. A woman's pregnancy, regardless of the situation--married, single, planned, unplanned, working or staying at home--should always be met with support and love from the community, including the family, the church, AND the workplace. THAT is the only way women will feel that they have a choice in the matter. By support, I don't just mean throwing diapers at an overworked, underpaid couple, their hands full with three little children already. Support is broaching the subject of adoption with a single mom, even if it is culturally unheard of. Support is teaching women and couples about their cycles and how to manage their fertility so they have more control...and what's that? Maybe a CHOICE in when they conceive? (In a loving, respectful relationship. I'm not talking any sort of coercion in a relationship or rape scenarios.) Support is crisis pregnancy centers helping women who already want to keep their babies, who might be having a miscarriage or other health issues. Support is writing your legislators, asking them to fight for fairness in the workplace--in leave policies, wages, and the like. This doesn't go for people with young children; employees have parents who get sick or need surgery, or siblings, or spouses, too. When society begins to call attention to the things that are needed to be good parents and good adult children, perhaps then society will truly value life in all stages.




Don't forget to visit Jen over at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes! Have a great weekend!